


Chance

by cafephan



Series: The 'Chance' Universe (The Kingdom of Bennia) [1]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Angst, First Kiss, Fluff, Pre-smut, Royalty AU, Secret Relationship, Strangers to Lovers, Warnings: swearing & mentions of alcohol & death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-16
Updated: 2017-08-16
Packaged: 2018-12-16 05:00:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11821737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cafephan/pseuds/cafephan
Summary: Phil Lester is a nobleman in the country of Bennia, and his family must put forward a suitor for the Princess’ hand in marriage later in the month. During his last night in Manchester, he encounters charismatic Dan Howell, resulting in them both taking a chance.





	Chance

**_1/10_ **

“Where are the good bars around here?”

“Allow me to show you all the most glorious hidden gem downtown Manchester has to offer.”

The brunet leads the group into a bustling nightclub, and Phil is sure to keep an eye on Ariella, who is at the front of the group, excitement practically radiating from her.

“It’s a Friday, so don’t expect to be served at the bar for at least three hours” the brunet explains, and various members of the group immediately tear away and head to the bar.

The rest of them wait until another group leaves their booth, and run towards it.

“So why are you all out tonight? Nowhere better to go?” the brunet asks, whilst absentmindedly drumming his fingers against the table.

“Oh,” Ariella blushes slightly, “I’m getting married.”

“Oh really? To who?”

Ariella smiles sadly. “I don’t know.”

The brunet furrows his eyebrows and looks around the table for some kind of clarification, and Phil shakes his head at him. Not another word is spoken about it.

The night is danced away and Ariella has people either side of her to help keep her standing upright, but she breaks away momentarily to wrap her arms around the brunet when they eventually stagger out of the nightclub, and she thanks him for a wonderful night.

Phil hangs back with him as the others leave, with the promise of catching up with them in a minute.

“What’s your name?” Phil asks, and the brunet crosses his arms over his chest.

“Dan. What’s yours?”

“Short for Daniel?”

“That’s typically what Dan is,” he rolls his eyes, “Now it’s time for you to answer my question.”

“Phil.”

“Short for Philip?”

Phil laughs. “You’re a cocky one, aren’t you?”

Dan shrugs.

Phil fidgets. “Have you by any chance heard of the country of Bennia?”

Dan looks at him quizzically. “No, considering it doesn’t exist.”

Phil pulls out his phone and opens up a map of his country. “On the contrary, it very much does. And it’s the most beautiful country you’ll ever see.”

“Why are you assuming I’ll ever see it?”

Phil sighs. “Ariella is the princess of Bennia, and is due to marry later this month. Each noble House is to put forward for a suitor for her hand in marriage. I would like you to represent my family’s House.”

Dan takes a step back. “What the fuck? Are you hammered or something?”

“I had two cocktails, I’m not even tipsy.”

“Say any of this was in any way real, which I don’t believe it is, why the fuck would I trust you when I only met you a couple of hours ago when you walked into the restaurant I wait at?”

Phil put his phone away. “I understand your concerns, I do. And you are in no way obligated to take me up on this offer or even believe me. But in case you do,” Phil hands Dan a piece of paper. “Our flight back to Bennia leaves tomorrow at ten.”

Phil smiles at him again then turns to meet up with the rest of his group, praying to every higher power that things will work out. Grayson is counting on him, the Lester family nobility is counting on him.

Dan watches him walk away, and breaks his gaze away only when Phil is out of sight. He looks down at the paper in his hand, and leans against the brick wall of the nightclub to catch his breath and recapture his thoughts.

\--

**_2/10_ **

“The pilot won’t wait forever, Phil. Ariella can only play the royalty card so many times” one of the group pats Phil on the shoulder, and Phil places his head in his hands.

Their flight should have left fifteen minutes ago, but Phil was hanging all of his hopes on Dan just arriving late. Nobody knows about the proposition Phil has offered him, and Dan had only known him a matter of hours, so to expect him to actually turn up was already a one in a million chance.

“Yeah, tell everyone I’m coming” Phil replies, and waits until his friend’s footsteps fade out of earshot.

He lifts his head and casts one last glance around, and when he doesn’t see a mop of brown curly hair, he sighs again and picks up his bag, slinging it over his shoulder.

“Wait!” a voice stops him from taking the final step out of the terminal gate, and he turns to see Dan sprinting towards him, red-faced and lugging along a big suitcase in one hand, waving the paper around in the other.

He stops when he’s only a couple of steps away from Phil, and drops his suitcase to the floor as he captures his breath back.

“You came” Phil states, and Dan looks up at him.

“Yeah, no shit” he replies, he’s out of breath.

“We’ll talk more on the plane, let’s go” Phil picks up Dan’s case for him – it’s surprisingly light – and runs through the gate, leaving a still exhausted Dan to steadily jog behind him.

As soon as they’re on the plane, Ariella’s private jet takes off first, then the one with the rest of the group on follows suit.

Everyone immediately stares at Dan, then at Phil.

“Meet the representative for House Lester” Phil introduces, gesturing to Dan, who is fidgeting uncomfortably.

Dan awkwardly waves.

Various members of the group – all of them belonging to Houses of nobility themselves – glance at each other and crack smiles or laugh to themselves, and Phil narrows his eyes at them before turning his attention to Dan.

“Seems as if you’re going to regret this” Dan says, his voice small. His knees are up to his chest, almost as if he’s trying to protect himself.

“What made you decide to come?” Phil attempts to take his mind off it. The idea that he might indeed regret this was in the back of his mind, though he was trying his hardest not to focus on it.

Dan shrugs. “Not as if I have anything back in Manchester. A dead-end job and a family that hates me. Why not take the gamble on potentially living a fairytale or potentially getting murdered by a guy claiming to belong to nobility in a country I’d never heard of. Life’s too short to just wait tables in a dive bar.”

Phil smiles and reaches to grab a Bennia tourist magazine, and hands it to Dan.

“Here, educate yourself a bit on my country. We’ve got a long flight, we’re going to be here overnight at least. And you’ll need all the sleep you can get for when you meet my brother.”

Dan looks at him. “Why, what’s wrong with your brother?”

Phil presses his lips together for a couple of seconds. “Grayson is… an acquired taste. I’ll let you make your own opinions when he meets us at the airport tomorrow.”

“Great,” Dan says as he begins to flick through the magazine, “I look forward to that. Let me adjust to the fact I’m on a private jet first then I’ll ask more questions about just what the hell I’ve gotten myself in for.”

Phil nods. “You do that.”

\--

**_3/10_ **

“What the hell took you so long?” Grayson barks at Phil the second he steps off the plane, Dan a few steps behind him. “And please for the love of God tell me you found someone.”

Phil gulps and steps aside so Grayson can see Dan for the first time.

Grayson looks him up and down, then turns to Phil.

“Tell me this is a joke.”

“Um, I’m right here, you ass” Dan snaps, and Phil quickly steps between them.

“Gray, listen. I’ve known Ariella since we were three years old, we’ve grown up together. I know what she’s looking for, what she likes and doesn’t like. We have the upper hand here, and trust me, we’re in with a good chance with him.”

“ _Him_ can still hear you” Dan says from behind him, but Phil and Grayson both ignore him.

“Because we have no other option I suppose he will do.” Grayson turns and begins walking away. “Come, both of you, we have much to discuss.”

Phil apologises to Dan on his brother’s behalf and sets off after him.

\--

“We’re living in a fucking _castle?”_ Dan asks in bewilderment as their car pulls up outside of the Royal palace.

“Obviously, where else would we be? You’re competing for the princess’ hand in marriage and you couldn’t very well do it from anywhere else, could you?” Phil laughs, and Grayson huffs.

“We really have our work cut out” he mumbles, and steps out of the car the second it stops moving.

Dan and Phil follow behind him, and Dan is constantly looking around in awe. Phil remembers when he first entered the Royal palace, he was the exact same.

“Each noble House has its own floor, ours is the third” Phil informs Dan as he hands him his room key. “My room is beside yours and Grayson’s is down the hall” he points down the hallway to prove his point. “So if you need any of us and we’re not all together you know where to find us.”

Phil then leaves Dan to settle into his room, and heads to speak with his brother.

“What the hell have you _done,_ Philip?” Grayson pulls at his hair.

“We don’t have to worry, Grayson, we’re in with a great chance, trust me!”

“You lost all my trust when you recklessly spent all of mother and father’s inheritance.”

Phil laughs bitterly. “ _Recklessly spent?”_ he repeats, “I donated most of my half to an _animal charity._ Hardly wasted it, did I? You were the one who spent millions on gambling bets that you lost every single penny of! It’s _your_ fault we’re broke!”

Grayson turns to him, furious. “You go and make _that,”_ he pointed in the general direction of Dan’s room, “into something worthy of Princess Ariella’s hand, and get us out of this mess.”

His brother then turns his back on him and Phil leaves quietly, and blinks back tears that begin to pool behind his eyes, and walks down the corridor and knocks lightly on Dan’s door, which swings open.

“Dan?” Phil asks as he enters, and finds Dan sprawled on the bed on his phone, his suitcase half unpacked on the floor.

“Oh, hi Phil,” he smiles, “There’s no phone signal here.”

“Yeah, it’s Bennia’s one and only drawback. But I’m sure there’s other things you can occupy yourself with whilst you’re here.”

Dan sits up and continues to unpack. “Speaking of, how long will I be here?”

“Well,” Phil sits on the edge of the bed, “Hopefully forever. Hopefully you’ll be the King of Bennia, ruling alongside Ariella.”

Dan turns sharply to face him. “Are you seriously not joking about this?”

Phil hands him a newspaper he picked up from Grayson’s room. “Sometimes I wish I was.”

Dan skims through the articles, most of which speak about the Princess’ eagerly awaited Coronation Ball on October eighteenth, with the wedding the day after. It speaks about the Welcome Ball the following night from the date they’re on now, where all the suitors gather to meet the Princess and the Royal Family for the first time.

“Okay, what exactly will I have to do?”

“Grayson and I will fully brief you before anything happens, don’t worry. We’ll prep you as best we can. But apart from that just be yourself, you seemed to get along with Ariella well that night in the club.”

Dan placed the paper on the bed. “Yeah, I guess she did seem sweet.”

“You’re going to have to do better than that, Dan.”

“Okay, Mister nobility, tell me everything I need to know for this Welcome Ball.”

\--

**_4/10_ **

“I don’t know about this, Phil” Dan says nervously as Phil tightens his tie for him and straightens out his suit jacket.

“Just do it as we rehearsed and you’ll be fine, it’ll be over in a few minutes. Okay?”

Dan gulps but nods slowly. “Alright.”

Phil smiles and steps back. “I think you’re good to go. I’ll drop you off with the other suitors then I have to go meet Grayson in the ballroom.”

“Wait you’re not going to be there with me?” Dan asks, clearly beginning to panic.

“I can’t, it’s suitors only. You need to be announced before you enter, whilst the guests all congregate in the ballroom. You’ll be fine, I promise.”

Dan gulps again. “You’ll be there watching me? And I’ll be able to find you straight after?”

Phil holds up a hand. “I swear on my life.”

Dan presses his lips together.

“Come on” Phil takes his arm and leads him out of the room to meet up with the other suitors.

“Please don’t leave me” Dan pleads quietly and grabs onto Phil’s wrist, and Phil nearly breaks out into a cold sweat. He feels terrible for the other man, he can’t imagine being in his shoes, but rules were rules. He can’t stay.

“I’ll make sure you can see me when you step onto those stairs, okay? I promise.”

Dan still looks terrified, but loosens his grip on Phil’s wrist.

“I’m trusting you.”

Phil smiles. “You won’t regret it.”

\--

He knows that Dan will be the third to be announced, correlating with the floor they are staying on in the palace, so after the second suitor is announced he gently weaves his way through the crowd of guests to be clearly visible at the bottom of the stairs.

“Come on Dan,” he whispers to himself, “We need this.”

He watches the announcer take the piece of paper, read the name on it and then blow his horn, and all the guests fall into silence as they turn to look at the next suitor.

“Representing House Lester, Mister Daniel Howell.”

Dan appears at the top of the stairs, obviously holding his breath.

He takes hold of the bannister and slowly makes his way down the stairs, smiling and waving at various guests as he descends, just as they had rehearsed.

When his gaze meets Phil’s, he visibly eases and subtly lets out the breath he was holding.

He smiles at everyone that continues to watch him, and keeps it up until the conversation picks up from where it left off, and the silence is but a memory.

Dan scurries over to Phil and takes a glass of champagne from the tray of a passing waiter, and downs the drink in one.

“I should definitely still be in his shoes” Dan nods towards the waiter, who doesn’t get a second glance from any of the guests.

“You did great!” Phil praises, and nudges Dan’s arm playfully.

He would hug him, if it wasn’t socially inappropriate, and if Grayson wouldn’t kill him for it.

“I didn’t completely embarrass you?” Dan asks, and Phil shakes his head.

“Of course not, you did everything right! I’m sure even Grayson won’t have a bad word to say about that!”

Dan rolls his eyes. “Now we both know that’s not true.”

At the sound of his name, Grayson appears and takes Dan’s empty champagne glass and places it on the empty tray of a passing waiter.

“Ariella has just finished greeting the previous suitor, we’re up” he says, and pushes Dan through the crowd until they reach the front of the ballroom, where three thrones are occupied by the King, Queen and Ariella.

At the sight of Phil and Grayson, the three of them rise, and Ariella smiles warmly when her eyes fall on Dan.

“Daniel, how lovely to see you again” she holds out her hand, and Dan kisses it lightly, just as Phil had instructed him to do in their training.

“How lovely that you know my name now” he jokes, and Ariella giggles.

“Daniel Howell, welcome to Bennia” the King holds out a hand, and Dan shakes it, and he kisses the Queen’s hand when it is offered to him too.

“The pleasure is all mine, your Majesties” Dan replies, and bows.

“Thank you, Daniel,” the Queen smiles, “Please do enjoy tonight’s festivities.”

Dan nods and thanks the three of them again.

“Save me a dance!” Ariella calls after him, and Dan winks at her. She giggles again as the three of them sit back down on their thrones.

“I have to say, I am somewhat impressed” Grayson says when they are safely away from the Royal Family.

“If I didn’t know you any better I’d say you were complimenting me” Dan smirks, and Grayson straightens out his jacket.

“Don’t flatter yourself, it just means we have trained you appropriately thus far.”

“What do you mean we? Phil did it all, you haven’t done anything for me since we got here.”

Grayson’s anger visibly increases, but instead of replying he storms off somewhere.

“Seriously though, it’s all credit to you” Dan smiles at Phil.

“Hey, I didn’t train you to wink at the Princess!” Phil holds up his hands, and Dan laughs.

“Yeah, I kind of improvised on that one. But she seemed to like it, so I guess it paid off?”

Phil nods, and grabs them both a glass of champagne. “I’d say you’ve made quite the first impression.”

“To House Lester” Dan holds out his champagne glass.

Phil feels a tingling in his chest as he clinks his glass to Dan’s. “To House Lester.”

\--

**_8/10_ **

The next few days were spent with Phil teaching Dan all he needed to know about various activities he would be partaking in as part of his bid for Ariella’s hand in marriage, and preparing him as best he could. They’ve spent pretty much every waking moment together.

Though Dan insisted on regular breaks from their training, where they would compare stories about their stark opposite upbringings and random stories about their lives. Occasionally Phil would try to steer the conversation towards Ariella and talk her up to Dan, but the other man would always manage to steer it back somehow.

Dan hadn’t bothered with his phone even once since the day they arrived, he insisted his family wouldn’t care and he didn’t have any friends to contact either, and he was close to being fired from his job anyway, so it wouldn’t make a difference.

Every morning, Phil would meet with Grayson to discuss various things, none of them pleasant. Every day Grayson would lecture his younger brother on how utterly vital it was that Dan became King alongside Ariella, and how House Lester wouldn’t have to worry about anything ever again if he did.

Phil would then return to Dan and insist he was fine when Dan always asked, and they would continue their training.

“So,” Dan says as they were on one of their breaks, “Forgive me for being potentially insulting or whatever, but from what I know about Royal Families, don’t heirs to the throne have to be male?”

“Bennia is conventional in a lot of ways, but with modern adjustments. Firstly, Ariella is an only child. Secondly, Bennia’s heirs don’t have to conform to any gender, they just have to be married before they can take over from their parents, and the spouse has to be chosen by this process you’re in right now.”

“Ah,” Dan was tossing a stress ball up in the air, “That’s cool.”

“Just cool? I’m personally very proud of my country’s Royal laws in that regard.”

Dan throws the stress ball at Phil’s head, and erupts in laughter when it bounces off of his forehead. “Shut up, dork. Don’t make me feel bad.”

“What did you just call me?” Phil stands up and places his hands on his hips, and tries his hardest not to laugh.

“Relax, it’s endearing” Dan assures him, and stands up too. He prods his finger in Phil’s chest. “It means I like you.”

Phil could so easily get lost in Dan’s eyes, they’re the richest shade of brown. It’s the first time they have been close enough that Phil can see the faint freckles on Dan’s cheeks, and the effortless curls in his hair that seem to almost dance on air.

Upon realising they are still stood so close together and neither of them have spoken, Phil takes a step back and picks up the discarded book of Bennia law from the floor and holds it out to Dan.

“Pick up where you left off.”

Dan whines and smacks the book back to the floor.

Phil laughs as he leans down to pick it back up.

“So that’s your proper laugh” Dan says, barely audible.

“What?”

Dan’s eyes widen and he takes a step back.

“N-Nothing” he says, and quickly takes the book from Phil and sits back on the bed and immediately dips his head and continues reading.

Phil keeps his gaze on Dan for a few more seconds, before reluctantly heading back to his paperwork for another couple of hours.

\--

“Another Ball?” Dan asks that afternoon when Phil brings in his suit after lunch.

“First thing you should’ve known before signing up to this,” Phil cups his hand around his mouth and whispers, “there are a lot of Balls.”

“Oh so it’s that kind of party, is it?” Dan smirks, and it takes Phil a couple of seconds to realise what Dan’s insinuating, and he blushes bright red.

“No!” Phil laughs and drops the suit onto the bed.

“See, your real laugh!” Dan points at him and grins, and Phil immediately stops laughing.

“Why do you keep saying that?”

Dan is again wide-eyed, and looks like a rabbit caught in headlights.

“I-I’ve just noticed that when you laugh for real your tongue kind of sticks out and it’s really-“

“Well you should be noticing that kind of thing about Ariella, not about me.” He knows he was harsh and he snapped, and he knows that he shouldn’t be storming out of Dan’s room like he is and he knows he shouldn’t slam his door like he’s going to.

Phil walks over to his own bed and falls backwards onto it, and proceeds to scream into a pillow.

He knows the feeling all too well, he knows this is the one time in his life he _shouldn’t_ be feeling it. He shouldn’t be noticing all the little things about Dan too, about the little dimples that appear in his cheeks when he genuinely smiles, or that his ‘real’ laugh is higher pitched than his fake laughs he uses in formal dinners and events, and he shouldn’t know the reasons that Dan’s past relationships have failed – they haven’t been The One. He shouldn’t know the thing that he and Dan have in common besides all the little things like music taste and classic novels – they both fall in love easily.

He’s interrupted by soft knocking on his door, and he hugs the pillow close to his chest as he falls silent.

“Phil?” Dan’s voice is as small as it was on their flight out to Bennia, when Dan felt inferior as everyone stared at him in judgment.

Phil feels a pang in his chest, and though every nerve is telling him to open the door, he wills himself to stay put.

The knocking eventually stops and Phil sits up, and he tries his hardest to lose himself in a book as he has been able to do easily since he was a toddler, but he keeps finding himself gazing involuntarily at the door.

An hour or so later, a slip of paper from the complementary palace notepad is pushed under his door.

Phil waits until the footsteps outside his door fade into nothingness, then walks over to retrieve it.

_I’m sorry for whatever I did :(_

_\- Dan_

Phil feels that same pang in his chest again, and runs and dives back onto his bed, and once again screams into a pillow.

\--

**_9/10_ **

Grayson takes over Dan’s training for the day, as Phil fakes an illness. Grayson says there is no way in hell they are risking Dan getting ill, as it could result in him needing to pull out of the race for Ariella.

Phil sneaks out of his room early in the morning, and makes his way to Ariella’s quarters.

Due to Phil’s long lasting friendship with the Princess, all of the servants and palace staff have come to recognise him over the years, so nobody questions why he’s walking around in the Royal Family’s quarters.

He walks through the Ballroom, where various servants are putting up decorations and others are setting up other aspects, ready for the night’s Ball.

“Good morning, Philip” they smile as he passes, and Phil greets them back.

Ariella opens her door on his second knock, the secret knock they used to use as children during sleepovers.

She immediately pulls him into a hug and ushers him inside.

“Thank you, Marianne” she politely dismisses her handmaid, and Marianne curtsies before leaving.

“So,” Ariella says as she jumps on her bed and continues brushing her hair, “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Phil shrugs. “It’s just been a while, thought I’d come and see how you were holding up.”

Ariella smiles. “Well, as you can imagine, it’s all really overwhelming. I never thought I’d be complaining about having six guys’ attention on me all the time, but here we are.”

They share a laugh and Phil lays back against her pillows, getting comfortable.

“Speaking of, who are you more leaning towards as it stands right now?”

Ariella turns to stare at him and laughs. “Are you asking that as my oldest friend or as a competitor?”

“Always friends first.”

She laughs again. “Truth be told, they all seem great, and as I’m getting to know them all by the day. I’m learning more about them and how they’d really be to spend the rest of my life with, you know?”

Phil nods.

“But, just between you and me,” Ariella leans in close, “I think you’re in with a _really_ good chance.”

And there’s that chest pang.

“R-Really?”

Ariella places her hairbrush on her nightstand lays beside Phil. “Oh God yeah, he’s so great! He’s so unlike anyone I’ve ever met before, he’s captivating to speak to, with all his mannerisms and stuff” she fawns, and turns to her friend. “You know me too well, Philly. Thank you for bringing him.”

She pinches Phil’s cheek, and he forces himself to laugh, though he feels sick inside.

“I knew you would” he replies, and she squeals and hugs him again.

“I’m so excited to finally get to dance with him tonight!” she says, “Since you stole him away from me at the Welcome Ball!” she pokes his chest playfully.

“I assure you House Lester will not let you down, Princess” Phil puts on his best ‘posh’ voice, which has Ariella rolling around in fits of laughter.

“Stop!” she clutches her chest, “You know I can’t take your posh voice!”

Phil pushes her off the bed, effectively silencing her laughs.

“No fair!” she exclaims, and hits him in the head with a plumped pillow.

Phil retaliates immediately and picks up a pillow of his own and swings it blindly back at her, and by the time Marianne returns to inform Ariella her parents wish to speak with her, the two are laid on the floor panting, pillow feathers all over the floor and bed, and their laughs and pathetic attempts at trash talk still hanging in the air, close to dissipating.

“Princess, your parents wish to-“

Marianne cuts herself off as she glanced wide-eyed around the room, at which point Phil jumps up and pulls Ariella up with him. He kisses her cheek and dashes out of the door without a word, leaving Ariella to explain everything alone.

“I hate you!” she shouts after him, and he shouts back an ‘I love you too!’ and matches Marianne’s amused laugh.

\--

Grayson is waiting outside his room when Phil returns, tapping his foot impatiently.

“There you are!” he throws his arms up in the air. “Where the hell have you been?”

“On a walk, trying to get better.”

“Oh please, you’re not ill.”

“Am too!”

Grayson rolls his eyes. “When you’re ill, you don’t leave bed. You milk it for all it’s worth. Don’t think about slacking off again. I’ve whipped him into shape for tonight but from tomorrow he’s all yours again, I need to work on digging this family’s reputation out of the ground.”

With that, Grayson walks back to his room, and Phil sighs as he unlocks his own room and shuts the door behind him.

Dan’s note is tucked under his mattress, he didn’t want to risk any servant finding it when they came in to clean his room and have a scandal on his hands.

He decides to take a nap for a couple of hours before they need to begin preparing themselves for the Ball.

He’s not sure how long he’s been asleep for when he gets awoken by frantic knocking on his door, but his alarm hasn’t gone off yet. He shuts it off anyway, because once he’s up, he’s up for the rest of the day, and pads over to the door.

His heart jumps into his throat as Dan leans against the doorframe, smiling.

Was it possible for him to get more attractive since the last time Phil saw him?

“I have a problem” Dan says, and bites his lip.

Phil has to look away.

“No kidding” Phil mumbles, but pushes his door open to allow Dan to enter.

He wanders over to his nightstand to put his glasses on, and when he turns to face Dan again, Dan does a double take and cocks his head to the side.

“You wear glasses?” he asks, and Phil scoffs.

“No I just like the feel of them squeezing my alien head.”

“You don’t have an alien head” Dan says, “And you should wear the glasses more. They’re cute.”

_He’s here for Ariella, not for you,_ Phil reminds himself. _Cute is just an adjective, it doesn’t mean anything. Stop reading too much into everything and get over this stupid little schoolgirl crush already._

“So what’s your problem?”

Dan bites his lip again and leans against the wall.

“Grayson said tonight I’ll have to Waltz with the Princess.”

“And?”

Dan sighs. “I lied when I said I knew how to Waltz. Because your brother is fucking scary and I thought he’d punch me or something.”

Phil squeezes the bridge of his nose and slaps his cheeks to try and wake himself up more.

“Okay this is a problem,” he says, and begins pacing around his room, trying to think of any possible alternatives than the glaringly obvious. There weren’t any. “I guess I’ll have to teach you.”

Dan shoves himself off of the wall and walks over to him. Dan is just a tiny bit taller than him, which Phil had always secretly wanted in a partner. A little taller, but not so much he’d have to go on his tiptoes to kiss them.

He pushes those thoughts out of his mind and straightens his glasses on his nose.

“Right, okay,” Dan nods, “Let’s do this.”

Phil loads up a traditional Waltz instrumental on his phone and it echoes from the walls, effectively closing them both into a world of their own.

“Do you have any dancing experience? At all?”

Dan chuckles. “I mean, you saw my dancing back in Manchester. If you could call it dancing. It’s the best I can do.”

Phil nods. “Okay, you’re a blank canvas. That might be helpful, at some point. I hope.” He shakes his head and takes a step closer to Dan. “So the first thing you’ll want to do is put your hands on my waist.”

Dan does so, and Phil has to close his eyes for a second to adjust to what was happening and that it wouldn’t be ending in a kiss. He swallows. “Okay good, and Ari will put her arms around your neck like this” Phil demonstrates, and Dan nods.

“This is okay, I can remember this” he notes aloud.

“And then what you’re going to want to do is move your feet in this kind of pattern” Phil breaks his arms from around Dan’s neck and steps back to demonstrate, and Dan watches keenly.

Dan then repeats Phil’s steps, and Phil nods. “Good. Then you’re going to want to lead her around a bit, so you’ll go like this…” Again, he demonstrates, and Dan follows suit. He’s picking the steps up well, like a natural.

“When am I supposed to twirl her? Or dip her?” Dan asks, and Phil puts the instrumental on repeat.

“Right. So first of all you’re not going to dip her, the court won’t like that nor will the King and Queen,” Phil informs him and Dan nods in understanding. “And secondly when you get to this step here,” Phil repeats one of the steps they’ve already covered. “You’ll stretch out your arm and she’ll twirl out and then back into your chest and you wrap your arms back around her straight away. Got it?”

Dan scratches the back of his neck. “I-Maybe?”

“Maybe isn’t good enough, Dan.” Phil wiggles a finger at him and Dan snorts. “But lucky for you I know how Ari dances, we had to learn to Waltz together when we were kids, so just do what I’ve taught you and you’ll be golden. She’s an excellent partner.”

“Can I rehearse with you, please?”

It’s a simple enough question, but it’s enough to send chills down Phil’s spine.

But it’s for his Waltz with Ariella, which will help her to choose him, which will help get Phil’s family out of the gutter.

Phil nods and steps forward and wraps his arms around Dan’s neck, and Dan wraps his around Phil’s waist.

They wait until the instrumental loops then begin to move around the room together the way they had rehearsed individually, and Phil tries to desperately ignore the fact his whole body feels electric, as though a million sparks are dancing on his skin. A part of him wants to ask Dan if he feels it too.

Phil continues to count them into every step, and they pause before Dan stretches his arm for Phil to twirl out, though he brings Phil back in far too roughly, and they both go tumbling onto the floor, in hysterical laughter.

“Maybe don’t do that when you dance with Ariella tonight” Phil laughs, and Dan nods.

“Yeah, maybe not.”

They stay in the same position for a while before Phil realises he’s still laying on top of Dan and Dan won’t be able to get up until he moves, so he springs to his feet and walks over to switch off the music.

He mentally takes note that Dan made no attempt to move either.

“I think you’re ready for tonight” Phil smiles, and Dan smiles back at him.

“Yet another thing I wouldn’t be able to do if it wasn’t for you” he opens his arms, and Phil instinctively walks into them, and they hug one another tightly.

It’s only when Phil hears Grayson’s door slam that he glances at the clock, and sees that they should be heading to the Ball.

“Fuck,” he says under the breath, and pushes Dan towards the door, “We need to leave _now._ Get your suit on and let’s go!”

Dan lingers in the doorway for a second, but doesn’t speak. He simply smiles and then disappears.

Phil runs to shut the door and gets into his own suit, refusing to acknowledge the butterflies that are still fluttering in his stomach.

\--

“Lords Philip and Grayson, Mister Howell” Ariella greets the three warmly, and offers her hand to Dan, who kisses it lightly as all the suitors must.

“I hope you boys all have fun tonight, the palace staff have worked tirelessly today to prepare it all!” the King gestures to the beautifully decorated ballroom, and the Queen links arms with him.

“He’s so modest, he helped too!”

“It’s truly beautiful, your Majesties” Dan bows, and they smile at him.

“Thank you, Daniel” the Queen replies.

“You’re definitely saving me a dance tonight, Daniel!” Ariella raises an eyebrow at him, “You’re not escaping me again!”

Dan winks at her, and Phil has to look away. “I look forward to it, Princess Ariella.”

They bid their farewells and head away from the thrones to allow the next suitor to greet the Royal Family, and Grayson immediately breaks away from Dan and Phil to go and socialise, insisting it is important for nobles to network frequently.

“I’m so nervous” Dan says, downing a glass of champagne.

“You have no need to be,” Phil replies, “You’ve got this.”

“I really do owe you everything. Thank you for being so great to me, right from the night we met, when I was being such a dick. I appreciate you not giving up on me.”

“I don’t give up on good people” Phil states, and takes a sip of his drink.

Dan scuffs his shoe on the marble tiles beneath them. “Then promise me you won’t ever give up on yourself.”

\--

“Now’s the time to ask the Princess to dance!” Grayson begins pushing Dan towards the thrones, and the dancefloor in front of them, where Ariella is currently dancing with another suitor.

“She looks pretty busy, Gray…” Phil says, but Grayson shushes him.

“Go and ask her, now” Grayson pushes Dan onto the dancefloor, and Phil reaches to go and drag him back, but Grayson sticks out his arm to stop his brother moving forward.

Ariella almost immediately spots Dan and breaks into a grin.

Dan walks over and taps the other suitor on the shoulder and says something that makes him shrug and back away, and he and Ariella prepare to Waltz.

Phil feels a lump in his throat as he watches them effortlessly Waltz around the dancefloor, everyone in the room watching them. They’re talking as they dance, Dan says something that makes Ariella throw her head back laughing, and she’s staring at him as if he’s the only other person in the room. Dan twirls Ariella out flawlessly and the dance continues seamlessly, and the guests applaud. Phil overhears some nearby guests comment on what a cute couple they would make.

He croaks an excuse about wanting some fresh air to Grayson, who doesn’t acknowledge it, and heads back to his room.

\--

**_10/10_ **

“Nine days!” Grayson shouted as he pounded on Phil’s door before moving to pound on Dan’s. “Nine days until the wedding!”

Phil’s eyes are sore. He throws cold water on them as if it will help, which it obviously doesn’t. He doesn’t want Dan or Grayson to see him like this, he doesn’t want to have to explain why he’s cried so much.

So he puts his glasses on and gets dressed in something other than pyjamas and decides to put his red eyes down to sleep deprivation if anyone asks.

“You look like shit” Dan observes jokily as they make their way down for breakfast.

“Thanks” he replies, and walks that much faster, and sits between two people who are already seated to avoid any future conversation.

\--

“Okay so today is horseback riding, a group date kind of deal” Grayson claps his hands together, and Phil immediately gets up to leave their daily meeting.

“That’s all you. I’m not going anywhere near them.”

Grayson knew all too well his little brother’s deep-rooted fear of horses. His gaze softens. “Okay, I’ll handle it. You just go get some sleep.”

Phil nods and leaves Grayson’s room and heads back to his own, thankfully not running into Dan in the process.

He listens as Grayson walks down the corridor to fetch Dan from his room, and he hears Dan ask why Phil isn’t fetching him as normal, and Phil’s stomach lurches. But eventually their voices fade the further away they get, and Phil is left alone with his thoughts.

He wills himself to sleep, just for some release from his thoughts of which Dan occupies most of in some form or other. The guy is just intoxicating to Phil, and he has no idea why. He didn’t ask for it. But having left the Ball early, he’d gotten a full night’s sleep.

He tries reading, but he can’t focus for more than two paragraphs.

He considers visiting Ariella but remembers that she’s on the group date, and he also isn’t anywhere near being ready to see her yet.

All of his other friends are busy prepping their House’s suitor, and they were his competitors first and foremost now.

He ends up occupying his day in Bennia’s apple orchard not too far from the palace, and helps the kitchen staff bake a serving of apple pies for when Ariella and the suitors arrive back from their horse-riding session, but leaves just before they’re scheduled to return and locks himself back in his room.

When the knock on his door comes an hour later, he continues focusing on his paperwork and pushes his glasses further up his nose.

But the knocking continues.

And continues until he can’t take it anymore and pulls the door open a little.

Dan is balancing two plates of apple pie on one arm, and two forks are grasped in the hand he’s knocking with.

“No, thank you” Phil begins to close the door, but Dan wedges his foot in the door.

“Come on, don’t tell me you don’t like apple pie!”

“Bennia’s apples are renowned worldwide, of course I like apple pie.”

“Then eat some with me!” Dan still sounds chirpy, “I’ll even let you have the biggest slice!”

“I don’t want the biggest slice.”

“You don’t need to watch your weight, Phil, I like you the way you are!”

Phil presses his lips together and clenches his fist. He’s _not_ going to let himself react to that.

“I’m not going until you let me in” Dan’s voice was softer now, arguably sadder.

Phil pushes the door open and Dan smiles as he walks in and places the plates on the desk, and holds out a fork to Phil.

“I’ll force-feed you if you don’t do it yourself” he states with a shrug, and Phil doesn’t move. “Well, I warned you.”

Dan gets some pie on the fork and walks towards Phil, holding it out.

“Eat the delicious pie, Phil” he wiggles the fork slightly, the way one would to a baby.

“Dan I really don’t want the pie” Phil replies, but Dan inches closer, still holding out the fork. “But you will have to catch me first if you want to force-feed me.”

Dan’s mouth drops open slightly. “A challenge, Lester? Bring it on.”

They stare each other for a couple of seconds, then Phil begins running away, bouncing on the bed to get more distance across the room. Dan chases him, and they’re both crying with laughter within seconds. Whatever grudge Phil was trying to hold was well and truly over.

They soon tire and are lying beside each other on the bed, both covered in apple pie (the chase turned into a food fight), both wheezing.

“Last time I had a food fight I was seven years old and in shape” Phil laughs breathlessly, and takes a drink from the bottle of water on his nightstand.

“That was the most fun I’ve ever had” Dan says, and Phil turns to him.

“You need to get out more, Howell.”

Dan grins and lays his arm across Phil’s chest. “You’ve helped bring me out of my shell, I think that constitutes, don’t you?”

“Literally not at all” Phil replies, and lays his arm across Dan’s face. “And don’t start something you can’t finish.”

Dan blows a raspberry on Phil’s skin, causing the other man to retract his arm in disgust. “You disgusting bastard!” he exclaims, and Dan shrugs.

“If the shoe fits.”

“It fits like a glove.”

Dan places a hand to his chest and feigns offence. “Ouch.”

As they catch their breath back, Phil’s mind goes back to the night before.

He also hates that he can’t avoid or stay mad at Dan for more than a few hours, all the negative feelings he harbours towards the brunet just melt away in just mere seconds of his presence.

“You left early last night,” Dan says before Phil has a chance to address it. “I missed you.”

“No you didn’t, you were busy with Ariella,” he prays he doesn’t sound at all bitter, “As you should be. It’s what you’re here for.” He adds it hastily.

“Yeah, but I wanted to spend time with you too. That’s not a bad thing,” Dan replies, then turns to look at Phil, “Is it?”

Phil swallows thickly, but remains staring at the ceiling.

“No, it’s not.”

Every one of his hairs stand on end as Dan slowly rests his hand on top of Phil’s, and his thumb gently strokes Phil’s palm.

But Phil doesn’t move his hand, nor does Dan.

\--

**_11/10_ **

“Daniel says yesterday went well” Grayson briefs Phil as he crosses off the previous day’s date on his calendar, and draws yet another ring around the eighteenth and nineteenth.

“I think we’re making progress. But the Coronation Ball is a week from today and the wedding is the day after, and we _need_ Daniel to be the one Ariella chooses. Phil, use your friendship to influence her if you need to.”

Phil presses his lips together and looks down at his shoes. “I don’t need to, I know she’s already going to pick him.”

Grayson drops his pen in shock. “You what?”

“I spoke with her the other day, she seems really into him. I met her yesterday and she said she can really see herself falling for him, and soon.” It wasn’t a lie, Phil ran into Ariella as he was heading to the kitchen for a midnight snack, and as they shared a pizza she had said exactly that.

Grayson beams. “Are you serious? Then we just need to keep up what we’re doing! We’ll be out of this mess before we know it!”

Phil smiles, but it isn’t possible for him to be on the same wavelength as his brother. Because everything Ariella said, applies for him too. As much as he doesn’t want it to.

“Act as you usually do around Daniel, don’t let him know this. Do you understand me?”

Phil nods.

“Good, now go and prepare him for tonight’s event.”

Phil nods again and leaves Grayson’s room, but instead of heading to Dan’s, he walks into his own.

Only he forgot to lock his door before he left, and he wasn’t the only one in there.

Dan is standing by the window looking out across the palace gardens, but the creaking of the door grabs his attention.

“I’m not letting you avoid me again” Dan mumbles, though his gaze doesn’t meet Phil’s.

“Again?”

Dan laughs, though it’s empty. “Please, don’t play dumb with me, Phil. I’m not completely stupid.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

Dan sighs and walks over to him, and when Phil looks down at the ground, Dan crooks a finger under his chin so he’s forced to meet his gaze.

“Tell me you didn’t feel anything last night.”

Phil swallows thickly, and tries his hardest to supress both his blush and the butterflies that are already fluttering in his stomach. The skin-to-skin contact also brings back the sparks he’d felt when they danced.

“I don’t know what you mean” Phil repeats, and Dan presses his lips together.

“Then allow me to jog your memory” Dan whispers, and trails his fingers down Phil’s arm until he’s at his hand, and links their fingers loosely. He then lifts his head to meet Phil’s eyes again.

Phil makes no attempt to pull away, and he’s entirely trapped in Dan’s beautiful gaze.

“Tell me you don’t feel anything right now” Dan whispers, his gaze flicking from Phil’s eyes, down to his lips, and back again.

Phil gulps, but doesn’t speak.

Dan smiles softly, and begins to lean in.

At which point Phil steps back and yanks his hand free of Dan’s, and turns away.

He picks up the eloquence book from his desk and brings it over, and drops it on the bed.

“Just have another reread of that, for tonight.”

He doesn’t look at Dan, and the man sounds as if he’s had all the wind kicked out of him as he mumbles an okay.

Phil sits at his desk and continues with his paperwork.

None of them say a word.

\--

“Tonight isn’t a typical Ball, Daniel. There are no formalities. It is pretty much a free-for-all, so try and steal Ariella away as much as possible, spend as much time with her as you can.” Grayson briefs Dan before they enter the Ballroom, where the party was already in full-swing.

Dan nods and neither he nor Phil say a word.

Grayson looks at them both for a second before pushing open the Ballroom doors and commencing his night of networking, leaving Dan and Phil alone.

They still haven’t said a word to each other.

Ariella weaves her way through the crowd, multiple suitors trailing after her, and stops in front of them.

“Good evening Lord Philip, Mister Howell” she greets them, and they both bow.

She doesn’t offer her hand to Dan this time, and Phil thanks a higher power for it.

“Could I steal Daniel away for a dance?” Ariella asks Phil, and winks at Dan.

Dan glances at Phil too.

“By all means” Phil smiles fakely, and Ariella takes Dan’s hand and begins leading him to the dancefloor, leaving the other suitors pouting and complaining amongst themselves.

“Tell me about it” Phil mutters to himself as he makes his way over to the refreshments table and picks himself up a drink and finds a vacant seat at the side of the Ballroom. He should be networking too, he knows, but he can’t do anything except sit and stare. People watch.

Watch Ariella giggle as Dan twirls her around the dancefloor, and causing him to grip his glass that much tighter when she looks up at him with that same look in her eyes.

He can tell that look a mile away. He’s looked that look. He’s felt that look. He _feels_ that look.

He can’t bear to watch anymore, and forces himself to get up and walk around the Ballroom, talking to various people he recognises. Fakes pleasantries and suffers small talk just to avoid the alternative, going up to his room and crying himself to sleep again.

He lasts another two hours, then he’s gone.

The clock reads eleven thirty when he hears footsteps coming down the corridor, one heading to the left and another to the right.

He hears two doors open, but only one close.

Then there’s a knock at his door.

With nothing to lose, he swings it open and Dan immediately pulls him out and into his own room, and shuts the door behind them.

Phil stands in the middle of the room, confused.

“Where’s Ariella?” he asks, and Dan shrugs.

“Somewhere or other. I cared more about where you were.”

“But you shouldn’t. You should-“

“I know. I should be caring where _Ariella_ is, and I should be thinking about _Ariella_ all day every day, I should be fantasising about marrying _Ariella,_ and I should be wanting to kiss _Ariella_ right now.”

With every mention of her name, Dan takes a step closer, and they’re close enough now that Phil can feel Dan’s breath on his face.

Phil swallows thickly. His arms are by his sides, and his fingers twitch, wanting to touch every inch of Dan that they can reach.

The moonlight is shining on his face, making his eyes an even more hypnotic shade of brown, and highlighting those freckles which Phil’s grown ever so fond of. The moonbeams bounce from his curls. They cast a shadow partly across his lips, and Phil finds it virtually impossible to stop staring.

“We can’t do this” he whispers, and Dan leans forward and presses an open-mouth kiss to Phil’s jaw.

“Dan…” Phil can feel his self-control slipping away, and his fingers are slowly reaching themselves up to cup Dan’s face.

Dan has now moved to pressing kisses down Phil’s neck.

“If you want me to stop, just tell me.”

But Phil physically can’t, it’s as if the word has suddenly left his vocabulary. As has any other word that would have the same effect.

With every kiss Dan presses to his bare skin, he feels himself lose control, until it suddenly floods back, and he cups either side of Dan’s face.

He looks him in the eyes for a second, before kissing him passionately.

Dan kisses him back immediately, if not a little hungrier than Phil is kissing him, and backs Phil up against the wall.

It’s all flooding to Phil’s head, every reason why this is _wrong._ But Dan knows just what he’s doing with his hands as he runs them over Phil’s chest and kisses him with as much passion as he can muster, and Phil is helpless. It’s a euphoric kind of pleasure, unlike anything he’s ever experienced.

“Do you want to…” Dan gestures behind him towards the bed, and it’s at that moment Phil snaps back into reality.

They’re both panting heavily and Phil’s arms are still around Dan’s neck, and Dan’s staring at him with slightly dilated pupils and chapped, raw lips.

“We can’t…” Phil whispers, and Dan glances down at the ground, but nods slowly.

Phil unhooks his arms from Dan’s neck and straightens out his shirt.

“I, um, I should go” he says, and Dan nods again, not saying a word.

Phil then walks towards the door, but Dan grabs his wrist, causing him to turn back around, and kisses him again. It takes Phil by surprise and he staggers backwards a little, but Dan wraps his arm around Phil and secures him in place, and he’s smiling when they break apart.

“Tell me you didn’t feel anything then” Dan whispers, and kisses him again softly.

Phil can’t help but smile.

“Goodnight, Dan.”

Dan reluctantly lets him go, and Phil walks back into his room and quietly closes his door as to not arise suspicion from Grayson, and leans against it.

He runs a finger across his lips, not fully certain if what had happened had actually happened.

His lips are still tingling and the skin Dan had touched feels like ice, perfect for how hot he feels all over.

He keeps replaying it over in his mind until he eventually falls asleep.

\--

**_12/10_ **

“Less than a week until the Coronation Ball!” Grayson crosses off yesterday’s date on his calendar. “Today is lunch with the King and Queen, Ariella will not be present. I need you to accompany Daniel and make sure he doesn’t mess everything up.”

Phil nods, though just the idea of seeing Dan after the night before makes him feel light-headed.

“I passed by the dining hall on my morning walk, and the menu is nothing too taxing, he should be fine. Just run him through etiquette once more and make sure he leaves his so called boyish charm back in his room. Understood?”

Phil stands up. “Understood.”

Grayson then dismisses him, but only after clapping Phil on the back, congratulating him once again on picking such a good suitor for their House. Phil doesn’t say a word and leaves.

Only he doesn’t stop at his room.

He stands in front of Dan’s door with his hand raised into a fist, ready to knock, but he can’t will himself to.

His conversations with Ariella run through his mind, how smitten she seems with Dan. Grayson’s compliments, how he says Dan will be the answer to their money troubles. But then he remembers Dan’s kisses, how natural it all felt, how happy he felt.

He’s left with no time to react when the door swings open, and Dan jumps when he sees Phil stood there, hand still in the air but hasn’t knocked.

“I thought I heard footsteps out here but I got confused when I didn’t hear your door close” he smiles, and Phil can’t say a word, it’s as if his throat has closed up. He holds up the etiquette book in his other hand, and Dan raises an eyebrow.

“You-You have lunch with the King and Queen today” Phil explains, his throat bone dry.

Dan nods and steps aside to let Phil in, and he walks over to sit on the bed.

Dan remains near the door. “Before we do that, I think we need to talk about last night.”

“No,” Phil replies instantly, taking Dan by surprise. “It was a mistake, that’s all we need to say.”

Dan doesn’t say a word, but comes to sit beside him. He takes Phil’s hand, and Phil sucks in a breath but doesn’t break free of Dan’s grasp.

“It wasn’t a mistake for _me”_ Dan says, and squeezes Phil’s hand gently. “And call me crazy, but I don’t think it was for you either.”

Phil looks down at their hands, and Dan is tracing patterns on the back of Phil’s hand with his thumb.

He feels himself well up with tears, and looks at Dan. “It’s got to be.”

Dan presses his lips together and moves to brush Phil’s fringe out of his eyes.

“When I was little, my grandma used to tell me that the heart wants what it wants, and to ignore it was a guarantee for a miserable life” Dan says softly, “And I think my heart wants you.”

Phil shakes his head, and a tear falls onto their linked hands. “You can’t.”

Dan raises Phil’s hand and kisses every one of his fingertips. “But I do. You’re all I want.”

Though every force in the universe is pushing him closer to Dan and screaming at him to say it back, Phil doesn’t. He stands to his feet and gestures to the book which lays discarded on the bed.

“Just-Just reread that and I’ll be back to pick you up before we need to head to the lunch.”

“Phil-“

“Please, Dan,” Phil has one hand on the doorknob and wipes his eyes with the other. “Please don’t.”

And then he leaves before his words betray him and he spills his feelings, and tries his hardest to focus on his paperwork for the remaining few hours until he has to return.

“Good luck, little brother” Grayson catches Phil as he’s heading to fetch Dan, and Phil thanks him.

He waits until Grayson is back in his room, then knocks lightly on Dan’s door.

Dan is dressed in the suit Phil brought up for him a few hours prior, and he has his gifts for the King and Queen tucked safely in his pockets. It isn’t mandatory, but Grayson insists that it might get them ahead of the competition if Dan were to bring gifts.

“You look nice” Phil compliments, and Dan smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes.

Phil notices Dan’s eyes are slightly red and puffy, not entirely different to how his own eyes had been lately.

“Are you okay?”

Dan looks at him, and his eyes are a duller shade of brown. Phil wants to kick himself, he knows he’s the cause.

“Do you want me to lie?”

“If the King and Queen ask you, then yes.”

Dan nods and sticks his hands in his jacket pockets.

Phil bites the inside of his cheek. “Meet me in the palace gardens at nine tonight.”

The words escape him before his brain can tell him it’s a terrible, and forbidden, idea.

Dan’s head snaps up. “What?”

“It’ll be dark enough by then and most of the staff have left for the day. Just meet me on the bench under the cherry blossom tree.”

“Why-“

“Dan,” Phil looks him in the eyes, “The cherry blossom tree at nine tonight.”

Phil then turns and heads down the corridor, leading Dan to the dining hall, leaving a confused Dan to trail behind him.

When Phil has to leave him at the door, he tightens Dan’s tie and straightens his jacket just as he’d done before the Welcome Ball, when everything was far less complicated and far less feelings were involved.

Dan brushes his fingers against Phil’s when they are close enough to do so, and Phil takes a step back and shakes his head.

“Go and charm them,” Phil nods towards the dining hall, where the other suitors are getting seated and preparing for the King and Queen’s arrival. “And remember-“

“I’m here for Ariella,” Dan finishes his sentence for him and sighs, and looks down at his shoes. “Yeah, I know.”

Phil nods. “Off you go.”

Dan takes a step inside, but turns back to look at him. Phil mouths the word ‘nine’, and Dan smiles and nods before walking towards the dining table, and finds his assigned seat.

Phil retires to his room, only someone is already there waiting for him.

“Ari?” he questions as Ariella is sitting on his bed.

“Philly!” she runs over and hugs him tightly.

“What are you doing here?”

“Well, my parents are in that lunch thing and I lied to the staff saying I was going for a horse-riding lesson and snuck off here” she shrugs.

“You’ve always been a rebellious one” he laughs.

“Remember when we were twelve and let all the animals out, shouting that we were superheroes and the animals were our sidekicks?” she recalls fondly, and Phil has to laugh.

“They never did find all of the horses and cows after that.”

Ariella grins and laughs. “We did so much stupid stuff when we were kids.”

“We did, we did.”

They fall into silence for a few seconds, before Phil has to address the elephant in the room.

“You’re getting married next week, Ari.”

Ariella runs her hands through her hair and flops backwards onto his bed.

“Crazy, right?” she laughs, “I remember when we had that heart to heart and we both thought we were going to die alone.”

Phil walks over to lay beside her. “And yet here you are, six guys wanting to marry you and you’re about to be Queen.”

Ariella sighs. “They only want to marry me _because_ I’m about to be Queen. That’s the thing.”

“That’s not true,” Phil nudges her shoulder, “Well at least not for all of them I’m sure. You’re a beautiful person inside and out, and any guy not good enough to see that and love you for who you are isn’t worthy of your time.”

Ariella turns to wrap an arm around his torso, and rests her head on his chest.

“This is so tough.”

“If it was easy it wouldn’t be love.”

Ariella smiles. “I love that you’re a hopeless romantic,” she muses, “I can’t wait until you find a guy someday and settle down. I’ll knight him so quickly he won’t know what hit him.”

Phil smiles. “I don’t think that’s how it works.”

“I’ll be Queen, it’ll work however I want it to work” Ariella insists.

Phil laughs. “Okay but what if I found a guy, like, today? Or yesterday? Then what would you do?”

As soon as the words leave his mouth his blood runs cold. He hopes and prays Ariella won’t pick up on the fact his heartrate has quickened significantly.

Thankfully, she sits up and places her hands on her hips. “Do you have something to tell me, Philip?”

Phil quickly shakes his head, and he can feel beads of perspiration forming on his forehead. He wipes them away before they come.

“Good,” Ariella grins, “Because I want to be the first person you tell when you find the One, you get me?”

Phil mock-salutes, and Ariella falls back in laughter.

When she calms down, she turns to face him again.

“I really like Dan, you know.”

The words feel like a thousand knives to Phil’s heart.

“Yeah?”

It’s all he can say without his voice going croaky, his throat has already gone dry again.

“He’s just everything I’d want in a guy, you know? Gorgeous, funny, charismatic, great dancer, genuine…” she reels off the characteristics on her fingers, “You know me so well, Philly.”

She moves in to cuddle him again, and squeezes him tightly.

“And another thing I like is that he doesn’t try too hard. Like, most of the other guys are constantly bringing me gifts and requesting to see me all the time and wanting to be at my side all the time, and it’s just not making a good impression on me. But Dan… he’s got it right.”

Phil simply nods, unable to speak.

“I wonder how he’s getting on with my parents,” she ponders, “I told them to go easy on everyone. I hope my father isn’t giving him the third degree or anything.”

“I’m sure it’s fine” Phil replies, and even he doesn’t recognise his own voice, it’s croaky beyond belief.

Ariella shoots up and looks at him quizzically.

“What the hell is wrong with your voice?” she asks, clearly supressing laughter.

“I haven’t had anything to drink yet today,” Phil lies, “It’s finally catching up to me.”

Ariella nods. “Well, I need to get going anyway before they send a search party out for me. Go and get a drink, yeah? I can’t have you dying on me, I need my Philly beside me when I get married!”

Phil’s stomach drops, but he forces himself to smile.

“Married…” she repeats, “I’m getting _married._ ”

“You are” Phil continues to force a smile.

“Crazy” Ariella shakes her head and snaps herself out of her thoughts, and heads towards the door, a spring in her step. “You definitely don’t have to worry. About your chances, I mean.”

Phil can only find it in himself to hold out his arms to give her another hug, to which she happily obliges, then she skips out of the room, singing something to herself.

Phil closes the door behind her, and slides down it, his head in his hands.

\--

He sneaks out of his room at quarter to nine, and closes his door as gently as he can as to not bring attention to it, and slips his key in his pocket.

He tiptoes down the corridor in hopes to not creak any of the floorboards beneath him, and only walks normally when he reaches tile.

As soon as he’s outside, he takes a deep breath.

The night sky smiles down on him in starlight, and the moon watches his every move.

When he was little, he and Ariella would spend hours running around the palace gardens playing Princes and Princesses. And when Phil came out as bisexual to her in their late teenage years, they would spend countless nights laying on the grass and looking up at the night sky, planning their dream weddings with their dream guys.

The cherry blossom tree had always been Phil’s favourite part of the palace grounds, it was where he had his first kiss aged fourteen, where he went after his first heartbreak, where he went after his parents died to grieve and mourn, where he went when things generally all got too much.

It was very much secluded from the rest of the gardens, and involved taking a winding path to get to, but that just made Phil love it more.

As he sits on the bench beneath it he takes a deep breath and looks up at the stars.

“Please tell me what I should do” he pleads as he clasps his hands together. “Mum, dad, grandma, anyone… Just give me a sign of what I should do. Please…”

“Phil? Is that you?”

Dan’s words carry through the air as he makes his way through the shrubbery, and his eyes light up when he sees Phil already sat waiting for him. The moonlight once again makes him look positively ethereal.

“You came” Phil says, as Dan comes to sit beside him.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Dan replies.

With another silent plea to the stars, Phil stands up and holds out his hand.

Dan takes it immediately, but looks at Phil with a confused expression.

“Where are we going?” he asks as Phil begins leading him away.

“I want to show you another of my favourite places on the palace grounds” Phil explains, and Dan squeezes his hand as he jogs a couple of steps so he’s walking beside Phil.

“Everything’s so beautiful here” Dan observes, constantly looking around at their surroundings. Flowers planted everywhere and fruit trees dotted around the fields, with every new thing Dan saw of the country of Bennia, the more it resembled a fairytale.

“Everyone works hard,” Phil shrugs, “We’re very proud of our country.”

“As you should be,” Dan marvels at the canopy of trees that are now over their heads, “As if it’s not enough that you’re in it, the nature is beautiful too.”

Phil is thankful they’re in darkness, he can blush without fear of being seen.

Eventually they arrive at the hill, and Phil lets go of Dan’s hand and sits down, and pats the grass beside him.

“You’ve taken me to a… hill?” Dan laughs as he sits down.

“Yeah, I spent a lot of time here as a kid. Look at the view.”

Dan’s mouth drops open as he looks. The hill overlooks a large portion of the country, and it looks straight out of a photograph, all lit up at night with the moon and stars casting an extra layer of beauty.

“Fuck” is all Dan can say, and Phil nods.

“Yeah, it tends to have that effect” he laughs, “It’s far away enough that you can’t be seen from the palace but still close enough that we’re still on palace grounds, so we’re not breaking any rules by leaving.”

“You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?” Dan smiles.

“I am,” Phil turns to him, “I just hope you stick around long enough to see them all.”

Dan shuffles closer and rests his head on Phil’s shoulder, and Phil takes Dan’s hand and begins playing with his fingers.

“How was the meal with the King and Queen?” he has to ask.

“It was fine,” Dan replies, “I think they liked me, I did everything you taught me to do and say. The Queen said that I reminded her of the King when they met when they were younger, which I assume is a good sign.”

“Grayson will be happy to hear that” Phil says, and Dan lifts his head off of Phil’s shoulder.

“But what about what makes _you_ happy?”

Phil fidgets so he’s facing Dan rather than craning his neck.

“What?”

“When was the last time you did something because it made _you_ happy? Not for Grayson, not for Ariella, not for the King and Queen…” he pokes Phil’s chest, “When was the last time you did something for yourself, when was the last time you put Phil Lester first for once?”

It’s a question that hits hard. Phil’s mother had often told him that he was too selfless for his own good.

Phil feels himself tear up, and Dan gathers him into a hug, and kisses the top of his head.

“I’m sorry” he says softly, and rests his head on Phil’s. “I just want you to be happy.”

When Phil pulls away he’s crying full-on, and he wipes his eyes messily and takes a deep breath.

“When my mum was around, she always told me that you know when you know, and when you know, don’t ever let them go. I got my hopeless romantic mindset from her, and she taught me to believe in love, that it’s as real as you and me.”

“I believe that too.”

“And then that old cliché, if you love something never let it go.”

Dan nods. “I agree.”

Phil dips his head as he continues to cry, and turns away from Dan. He’s usually too proud to let anyone see him cry. Grayson has always told him crying is a sign of weakness, and Lesters don’t show weakness.

Dan gently grips his arm and causes him to turn back around, and wipes away the tears from Phil’s cheeks, but keeps his hand there and caresses the skin with his thumb.

“What makes you happy, Phil?” Dan asks softly, his voice barely above a whisper.

Phil swallows back the lump in his throat and wipes his eyes with the sleeve of his jumper.

“You.”

It’s then that Dan leans in and captures Phil’s lips in a kiss, and Phil pulls him impossibly closer, unable to resist any longer.

It’s nowhere near as steamy as their first, nor do any of them need it to be. Phil can feel himself slipping into euphoria once again, but this time he knows he’s not going to stop.

They kiss until they can kiss no more, and then lay down on the grass, Phil’s head on Dan’s chest.

“I want this” Phil says whilst Dan is threading his fingers through his hair.

“You what?”

Phil gulps. “This,” he gestures to the two of them, “I want this.”

Dan leans down to kiss him again. “You have no idea how long I’ve been wanting you to say that.”

“We only met this month,” Phil reminds him, “So clearly not that long.”

Dan shushes him and they laugh, but it soon dies down. “Fuck, has it only been a couple of weeks? It feels like I’ve known you for years.”

“Kindred spirits” Phil doesn’t use the phrase lightly, but it’s less daunting that the alternative, which is also on the tip of his tongue.

“Kindred spirits” Dan agrees, and brushes Phil’s fringe from his eyes with a warm smile.

\--

**_13/10_ **

Phil wakes up to incessant knocking on his door, and he wipes his eyes and puts his glasses on as he pads over to open it.

His brother was glaring at him.

“Why the hell aren’t you awake yet?”

Phil glances over to the clock, which reads as eleven in the morning.

“You missed the day’s briefing!” Grayson continues, and Phil covers his mouth as he yawns, unable to speak.

Grayson scoffs. “You’re lucky it’s a free day and nothing happens until tonight. You’re also lucky I have provided a gift for Daniel to give to Ariella tonight. Just make yourself and Daniel presentable for tonight, yes? I will bring the gift down myself and give it to him before he is announced. Don’t let this happen again.”

With that, Grayson walks back to his own room, and as soon as his door closes, Dan’s opens.

Dan peers cautiously around the doorframe, and he eases when he sees only Phil smirking at him.

“You’re the worst spy and eavesdropper ever” Phil humours, and Dan pouts, but steps outside.

“I was listening in case you needed moral support!” he insists, “But are you okay? He kind of gave you a bashing there.”

Phil shrugs and walks into his room, leaving his door open for Dan to follow.

“Nothing I can’t handle.”

Dan presses his lips together and comes over to sit beside him.

“It’s only because he cares” Phil assures him, and Dan takes his hand.

“Yes but _I_ care about you, and I don’t treat you like that.”

Phil bites his lip, not knowing how to respond.

Dan kisses him on the cheek and lets go of his hand.

“Okay, you don’t have to talk about it. So what are we doing today? What’s tonight?”

Phil smiles gratefully at him and clears his throat. “Yet another Ball, surprise surprise.”

Dan groans. “Do I have to Waltz again?”

Phil nods slowly, and laughs as Dan groans again.

“But Waltzes last forever!” he complains, “And as lovely and amazing at dancing as Ariella is, I’d much rather be dancing with you.”

Phil places a finger to Dan’s lips to shut him up, and Dan licks his finger, causing Phil to pull away in disgust.

“You pull a stunt like that at the Ball and we’re out of here” Phil lectures him, and Dan rolls his eyes playfully.

“Fine. I’ll save my tongue just for you, shall I?”

Phil laughs. “Whatever helps you through the day, big guy.”

“I’ll keep that in mind” Dan taps the side of his head.

Phil jumps up and holds out his hand. “Come on, we need to rehearse, just in case you’ve forgotten any of the steps.”

Dan jumps up too and takes Phil’s hand, and leads him to the middle of the room, and they get in position.

Dan executes every step perfectly. When they get to the part where he twirls Phil out, instead of catching him and continuing to dance, Dan dips him.

“What did we say about not dipping?” Phil raises an eyebrow and Dan smirks.

“But I won’t want to kiss Ariella” he whispers, and leans down to kiss him, resulting in his grip loosening and Phil tumbling to the floor with a soft thud.

Dan looks down at him with his hands cupped over his mouth, and Phil just erupts in laughter.

“Yeah, definitely don’t dip her” he says through his laughter, and Dan offers a hand to help him back up.

“Are you okay?” Dan asks through his hand which is still over his mouth, his eyes clouded with concern.

Phil embraces him and peppers the other man’s neck in open-mouthed butterfly kisses, causing Dan to dither and practically melt in Phil’s arms.

\--

Dan is a professional at handling his announcements now. He confidently walks down the stairs and waves and smiles at passersby, and holds conversation effortlessly with anyone who wishes to. It was hard to think of him as the nervous wreck he was at the Welcome Ball.

When they make their way to greet the King, Queen and Princess, Ariella is already on her feet, eagerly awaiting Dan to reach her. Phil and Grayson always allow Dan to go first, as he is the one everyone really cares about.

“Daniel, welcome” the Queen greets, and Dan kisses her hand courteously. He shakes the King’s hand, and bows in front of Ariella.

“Hi, Daniel” she giggles, “Ready to Waltz again later?”

“It will be the highlight of my night, Princess.” Dan replies in the smoothest of ways, and Phil can practically hear Ariella’s internal squeals.

Grayson elbows Phil in the side and looks impressed at Dan’s performance. Phil nods gratefully and waits until they can leave, which they do after bowing to the Royalty.

Once Grayson leaves to socialise, Dan fetches himself and Phil two glasses of champagne.

“I’m going to need a lot of this to get me through tonight” Dan says.

“Why? You’ll be great as always. Just don’t dip and drop her and you’ll be golden.”

Dan sighs and leans in close. “Because she’s not the one I want to be dancing with.”

Phil gently shushes him and takes a sip of champagne, and Dan does the same.

They chat until the last suitor has been announced and greeted the Royals, and Phil watches as Ariella splits off from her parents and looks desperately around the crowd of guests.

When she spots Dan and Phil, her smile grows and she makes her way towards them.

“Wish me luck” Dan says in Phil’s ear as he turns to put down his glass, and greets Ariella with a smile.

“Princess,” they say synchronously and bow.

“Oh come on, no need to do that when my parents aren’t watching,” she rolls her eyes playfully, “But could I possibly steal Daniel away for a dance, Philly?”

Phil took another sip of champagne, and notices the excitement flickering in his friend’s emerald green eyes. He glances towards Dan, who is looking back at him with a raised eyebrow.

He realises he hasn’t spoken in seconds. “Oh, sorry, um, yeah of course, be my guest” he gestures towards the dancefloor, and Dan offers Ariella his arm.

“Shall we, your Majesty?”

Ariella takes his arm and giggles. “Please, call me Ariella.”

Dan winks at her. “Noted.”

They then make their way over to the dancefloor, and the Waltz music begins.

As soon as they begin to dance, it’s as if they are in their own world, and Phil almost feels as if he’s intruding on something just by watching. The guests all seem captivated as they watch, and Phil finds himself moving his feet along in time with Dan’s, and his heart is in his throat as Dan twirls her out. He doesn’t dip her, the dance continues as it’s supposed to, as it did last time.

Phil wants to run back to his room, but he stays put and keeps his eyes on them.

As the dance finally comes to a close, Dan kisses Ariella’s hand gently and she curtsies, before another suitor comes straight up and asks her to dance.

Dan makes his way back over to Phil, picking up another drink as he does so.

“How did I do?” he asks, taking a sip.

“Perfect as always” Phil replies, and Dan punches him gently in the arm.

“You’re just saying that,” Dan teases, “Because you’re-“

Phil shushes him before Dan can finish his sentence, and leans in close.

“You never know who’s listening, be careful of what you say.”

Dan simply nods, and they continue as if nothing has happened.

\--

**_14/10_ **

Phil stays up reading, lost in a fantasy world.

The clock is nearing two in the morning when there’s a gentle knock on his door, and he just stares at it for a couple of seconds, confused.

But when the knocking continues, he folds down the corner of his page and rests it on his nightstand, and walks over to the door.

Dan holds up a bucket of chocolate-covered strawberries, and a rose in his mouth.

“Please let me in, I thought this would be romantic but there’s still a thorn on this stem and it’s dangerously close to my tongue” Dan says, voice muffled.

Phil laughs quietly and pushes the door open, and takes the rose from Dan’s mouth.

“What’s all this?” he asks, and Dan turns to face him after placing the bucket on the desk.

“You didn’t send them?”

Phil took a step towards him. “Why the hell would I send them?” he whispered, “Think of the situation we’re in!”

Phil’s eyes widen as he realises what’s happened.

“No no no no no” he says as he sits on the edge of his bed and places his head in his hands.

“What?” Dan asks as he sits beside him and rubs his back comfortingly.

“Chocolate-covered strawberries are Ari’s favourite snack, and a rose is her favourite flower.”

Dan stops rubbing his back. “Oh.”

“You need to get back to your room _now.”_

“What?”

Phil pulls him up from the bed and hands him the bucket and sticks the rose in it. “Get back in there in case she decides to come by in the middle of the night, you need to be there!”

“Can she do that?”

“She used to sneak out all the time when she was a teenager, she’s a pro at it by now, she knows what times nobody will be around” Phil opens the door as quietly as he can and pushes Dan out.

“Can’t I at least have a little-“

Phil pulls him back in and kisses him, then pushes him back out.

“I’ll come by after I’ve met with Grayson, okay?”

Dan nods. “I’m only doing this for you, you know.”

“I know, that’s literally why you’re here. Now good luck, Romeo” he then shuts his door before Dan has a chance to say something to convince him to stay any longer.

Rather than staying awake to read more, and risk hearing Ariella’s late night visit, Phil tries his hardest to fall asleep, and for once the universe grants him a favour.

\--

After Grayson reminds him yet again that the Coronation Ball and wedding inch ever closer, Phil slips into Dan’s room.

Dan is in the middle of reading a book Phil loaned to him, but immediately puts it down when Phil enters.

“Did she visit?”

Dan rolls his eyes. “No, she didn’t. Of course she didn’t.”

He walks over and wraps his arms around Phil, and buries his face in Phil’s neck. “I missed you.”

Phil hugs him back. “I missed you too.” It isn’t a lie.

“Can I come over tonight? Or do I have to do something?”

“As far as I know you’re free to do whatever you want today.”

Dan kisses Phil’s neck. “I want to spend it with you.”

Phil rests his head against Dan’s.

“I want that, too.”

\--

They decide to go to the hill again, and they end up play-wrestling.

“Kiss me!” Dan says as he has Phil pinned down.

“No!” Phil laughs, and tries his hardest to break free, which he manages during a time when Dan leans down to kiss him and loosens his grip.

Suddenly they’re flipped over, and Dan raises his eyebrows.

“Well, this was unexpected, but I’m not in any way complaining.”

“Is this a kink of yours?” Phil teases, and Dan smirks.

“Do you want to find out?” Dan asks, and Phil can’t hold back anymore and leans down to kiss him, and Dan happily wraps his arms around Phil’s torso, holding him close.

They end up getting a little too into the kiss, and as Phil takes his hands off of the ground to cup Dan’s face, he somehow ends up sliding off of him and begins rolling down the hill.

“Dan!” he calls frantically as he rolls, but Dan remains at the top of the hill, holding his belly as he laughs hysterically, and somehow he manages to wriggle out of his safe space and ends up rolling down too, and his laughs quickly turn to swears.

He ends up on top of Phil.

“Well look where we’ve ended up again” Dan says, and Phil rolls his eyes.

“Please. As if you’re ever in that position.”

Dan feigns offence and gasps. “Philip Lester what are you insinuating?”

Phil uses all of his strength to push Dan off of him, and sits up, picking stray blades of grass off of his shirt.

“You know exactly what I’m insinuating, Daniel Howell.”

Dan sits up and begins picking blades of grass off of his own shirt.

“But of course we’ll never get to find out…”

Dan presses his lips together and crawls over to be beside him. He rests his head on Phil’s shoulder.

“Is there honestly nothing we can do?” he asks, and Phil wishes he shared the hope Dan has in his tone of voice.

“Nothing,” Phil answers and smiles sadly, “Just got to let fate run its course.”

Dan takes Phil’s hand and begins playing with his fingers. “But fate made this happen, so maybe it’ll cut us a break, and Ariella will choose someone else?”

Phil sighs. “But if Ariella chooses someone else, Grayson and I will be bankrupt. The Lester family nobility will cease to exist.”

“Oh.”

They then sit in silence, as close as they can be, just watching night fall over Bennia.

\--

That night, they pile into Phil’s room near midnight, quietly giggling and drunk off of one another’s lips.

They’re tucked up in bed a few minutes later, wrapped up in each other’s limbs, just listening to each other breathe.

“You know,” Dan says as he looks up at Phil, “I’ll do whatever you want to do.”

“What do you mean?”

“About the Ariella situation, this big huge mess we’re tangled up in. I’ll do whatever you want me to do.”

Phil licks his lips and stretches out his legs. “You have your own mind, you’re your own person.”

“But my mind just keeps bringing me back to you” Dan whispers, and Phil pulls him closer.

He’s about to reply when a knocking sound interrupts them, only not on his door. On Dan’s door.

“Daniel? Are you awake?” Ariella is speaking just louder than a whisper, and just loud enough that Dan and Phil can both hear her.

They both freeze in place, and look at each other, panic in both sets of eyes.

“Daniel?” Ariella asks again, and Dan buries his face in Phil’s chest, and tightens his arm around Phil’s torso. Phil begins tickling Dan’s back gently, in an attempt to calm him.

“I don’t know if you’re awake or not, I hope you’re not just ignoring me. But if you can hear me, I’ll come back tomorrow, okay?” she asks, and is once again met with silence. “I hope you enjoyed the strawberries, I picked them from the gardens myself! Anyway, you’re probably sleeping so I’m embarrassing myself but… I’ll come back!”

Phil listens as her gentle footsteps fade out of earshot, and his first instinct is to check on Dan, who he soon realises is silently crying.

Phil sits them both up, and wraps Dan in a tight bear hug, and Dan cries into Phil’s shoulder. Phil tries his best to soothe him, but he doesn’t feel too far from tears himself. So he just holds Dan tightly and grips onto him as if the world is ending and Dan is his only hope of survival.

\--

**_15/10_ **

Today’s lunch is for nobility and suitors alike, and Phil thinks it no coincidence that Dan is seated next to Ariella.

Whilst Ariella is speaking to Dan and Grayson is distracting the other suitors so Dan can continue speaking to Ariella with no distractions, the King smiles over at Phil, who is otherwise picking at his food without really eating.

“So, Philip,” he says, and Phil snaps his head up.

“Your Majesty?”

“Please, Philip, you know to call us Julianna and Constantine” the Queen smiles, “We’ve known you since you were a toddler, we think of you as one of our own.”

“But don’t tell the other noblemen that” King Constantine laughs, a big bellow that captures the attention of most people around the table, but with a wave of his hand conversation continues as it did before. “But Ariella tells us you’re considering studying in England next year and getting a University degree?”

Phil rests his cutlery on his plate to give King Constantine his full attention. “Yes sir, I think I’m going to apply for Manchester University.”

At this, Dan whips his head around to look at him, but Phil keeps his focus on King Constantine.

“Well Philip, you know Bennia has wonderful academic opportunities too, there is no reason for you to travel so far if you do not wish to. We can always work something out for you here” Queen Julianna says whilst cradling her glass in her hands.

“I’m honoured, your majesties, but Manchester intrigued me when we visited, and it has a piece of my heart. I’d love to have the opportunity to see more of it.”

Again, Dan whips his head around and stares at Phil, his mouth turned down at the corners. When Phil doesn’t look back at him he fully frowns and turns back to Ariella.

“Well, if there is anything we can do to help, you just let us know” Queen Julianna smiles, and King Constantine nods.

“Think of us as your fairy godparents, minus the halos” he laughs, and Queen Julianna joins in.

It’s at that moment that Phil wants to tell them everything, about the bankruptcy and beg for their help. But he doesn’t.

“Thank you, your Majesties,” Phil smiles, and pushes his chair backwards gently, “If you’ll excuse me.”

“Of course, Philip” King Constantine grants him permission to leave and Phil briskly walks out of the dining hall, and heads straight for his room, not hesitating to lock it behind him.

He lays just looking at the ceiling for hours, various instrumentals playing and bouncing from the walls.

\--

He doesn’t answer to Dan’s knocks, he can’t bring himself to. Not when he knows what’s coming later that night, he knows he wouldn’t be able to let Dan go.

He sits in silence, and the time has just passed eleven thirty when he hears the knock on Dan’s door.

Their voices are whispers, and he hears Ariella giggle before the door closes.

Phil can’t bear to stick around any longer and leaves his room, not caring if the door slams behind him, which it does.

He heads to the cherry blossom tree, and sprawls across the bench, staring up at the stars through the branches. The night air is cold and biting, and Phil pulls his jumper tighter around his body, and watches his breath swirl in the air above him, dissipating a few seconds later.

Though he tries his hardest not to, his mind keeps going back to wondering what is happening with Dan and Ariella. He knows Ariella extremely well, and he knows that she has a certain charm about her that makes her irresistible to any and all romantic interests, he’d watched countless guys fall at her feet and he’d seen her break their hearts when things didn’t work out. Things are different now she’s close to taking over the throne, obviously, but it’s impossible for Phil not to still feel inferior to her.

And as much as Phil wants himself to believe all the things Dan has said, he knows Ariella is seriously into him, and he knows he shouldn’t stand in the way of that. But he’d been raised to think with his heart first, courtesy of his mother before she passed, and his heart is calling out for Dan. But so is Ariella’s, and Dan was in Bennia for Ariella and Ariella alone.

\--

**_16/10_ **

After his meeting with Grayson, Phil runs back to his room and locks the door. It is another free day, so Phil has no reason to speak to Dan. Except for the fact he wants to. More than anything.

With the Coronation Ball in two days, Phil and Grayson’s paperwork has doubled. Phil is in charge of everything surrounding the Coronation and Dan’s suitor-ship, and Grayson is in charge of the family’s finances and legal affairs.

“Phil, let me in” Dan doesn’t knock.

“No” Phil calls back.

“Stop being a baby and open the fucking door.”

“No” Phil calls again.

Dan sighs and there’s a soft thud against the door, Phil assumes because Dan is resting his head against it.

“Please?”

Phil can’t stand to hear Dan’s voice the way it is.

So he slowly unlocks the door and opens it up a crack, and Dan lifts his head to look at him.

“Can I come in?” he asks, his voice cracking at the end,

“I-I don’t know.”

Dan looks into Phil’s eyes, and they’re glistening.

“Are you going to cry?”

Dan shrugs. “Probably.”

Phil pushes the door open and Dan walks in, and immediately hugs him.

Phil’s shirt begins to dampen as Dan cries onto him, and Phil holds him tighter.

“It’s okay” he says softly, and Dan sobs.

“It’s not fucking okay! Nothing about this is okay!” he shouts, and Phil shushes him quietly and hums softly into Dan’s ear.

“I know” he says, despite him wanting to say anything else.

“Can I just lay with you for a while please?” Dan requests, and Phil nods wordlessly and leads him over to the bed and pulls back the duvet.

Once they’re wrapped up, Dan’s sobs begin to even out and he gradually calms down.

“I wish this wasn’t so complicated” he sighs as he snuggles into Phil.

“I know,” Phil kisses the top of Dan’s head, “Me too.”

Dan lifts his head and looks into Phil’s eyes. “Please kiss me.”

And so Phil does, happily. As much as he tries to tear himself away and leave Dan alone and make their relationship purely mentor-mentee, he just can’t. Some cosmic force just keeps bringing them back together.

“I almost don’t want to ask…”

Dan kisses him again, this time long, slow and sweet. When they break apart, Dan settles back down and begins running his fingers across Phil’s bare side.

“She only stayed for a couple of hours, there was no need for you to have stormed out like you did.”

“You heard that, huh?”

Dan scoffs. “I think the whole castle heard you, Phil.”

“I think that’s a bit of an over exaggeration.”

“No, it’s really not” Dan laughs, and Phil huffs.

“But what happened?”

Dan stays silent.

“Dan?”

When Dan doesn’t reply again, Phil gently moves him off of his chest and sits up, and pulls Dan up with him.

Dan bites his lip.

Phil feels his stomach drop. “You-You didn’t… did you?”

Dan meets his eyes. “Of course I fucking didn’t.”

“Did you… Did you kiss her?”

Dan shakes his head. “She tried to, more than once. But I wouldn’t.”

“Why?”

Dan rolls his eyes. “Because the only person I want to kiss is _you,_ you idiot!”

He falls into Phil’s arms again.

“I just want you” he says, and Phil presses his lips together and holds him close.

“I,” Phil is about to cut himself off completely, but he can’t swallow the words back, “I just want you too.”

“She brought up the L word at one point” Dan reveals, and Phil feels his blood run cold.

“She what?”

Dan pulls away and takes Phil’s hands. “Yeah. I didn’t see it coming either.”

“She’s really into you, and if she wants to marry you, then it makes sense to drop that word in” Phil reasons, and Dan meets his gaze.

“But I don’t love her back,” he explains, and bites his lip. “I-“

“Don’t finish that sentence,” Phil interjects, and places a finger over Dan’s lips. “I can’t take it.”

Dan nods and looks down at their hands, not saying a word.

“You certainly seem in your element when you’re flirting with her and stuff…”

Dan lets go of Phil’s hand.

“You want to talk about that, do you?” he asks, his voice slightly raised. “I’m doing it for _you._ Because it’s what _you_ brought me here to do. I told you the ball is in your court, whatever you want to do about this,” he gestures to the two of them, “I’ll do. If you want me to marry Ariella then I’m doing my fucking hardest to make sure she picks me, so you and your brother can get out of bankruptcy, even though it means marrying someone I don’t love and don’t have any form of connection with. I’m doing this for _you!”_

Phil brings him back in his arms and Dan makes no attempt to pull away, which Phil is thankful for, he knows he shouldn’t have said it. He’s still just not used to someone paying attention to him rather than Ariella. Growing up, he was always just her sidekick, and was often used as a pawn for getting closer to her.

“Can I go back to Manchester with you when you go to Uni?” Dan asks, his voice muffled.

“You’ll be King, you can’t…”

“I might not be.”

“In which case I wouldn’t be able to afford to go anyway.”

Dan kisses Phil’s chest and pulls out of his arms. “I hate this.”

“You’ll learn to love her, Dan. You’ll forget about me.”

“I’d have better luck being reborn through a giraffe’s asshole than being able to forget about you and learn to love her, Phil. You’re a part of me whether you choose to believe it or not, and I know it’s the same vice versa.”

Phil swallows back the lump in his throat. “Of course it is. It shouldn’t be, but it is.”

“What are we going to do?”

Phil lays back down and gestures for Dan to do the same, then pulls him in close and kisses him.

“We give each other something to remember us by.”

\--

**_17/10_ **

“I’ve been told that Ariella will be going on a walk around the palace grounds in an hour. I want to make sure Daniel is there to accompany her.” Grayson explains as he paces around his room. “We’re almost there, Phil. Tomorrow is the Coronation Ball. I’ve been told we are the front runners, we just need to keep up what we’re doing. Go and inform Daniel.”

Phil nods and leaves Grayson’s room, and heads straight to Dan’s.

He opens the door on the second knock, and his eyes light up when he sees Phil.

“Grayson wants you to go on a walk of the grounds with Ari in an hour” Phil blurts it out before Dan kisses him and he loses his head again.

Dan’s face falls. “But I thought we were going on a walk around the grounds today?”

Phil’s gaze drops to the floor. “Please don’t make this any harder than it already is, Dan.”

Dan opens his mouth to reply, but nods instead. He leaves his door open as he walks back into his room, and Phil closes it behind himself.

In an instant Dan has pinned him against it and is kissing him passionately, his hands running all over Phil’s body. Phil lets himself lose control as he kisses back and lets his own hands run free over Dan.

“It’s the Coronation Ball tomorrow” Phil reminds him, and presses a kiss just beneath Dan’s ear.

Dan moans and starts to suck on Phil’s neck, and Phil not-so-secretly hopes it’s hard enough to leave a mark.

His nails claw into Dan’s back as Dan continues, and it’s the kind of moment that Phil wishes would slow down and last forever.

“I don’t-“ he swallows thickly and takes a deep breath. “I don’t want this to be over before I’ve had the chance to… be with you.”

Dan finishes what he was doing and rests his forehead on Phil’s, panting slightly.

“Really?”

Phil kisses him and pulls away smiling. “Really.”

\--

Dan returns from his venture with Ariella sometime mid-afternoon, and Phil quickly lets him back into his room.

“How was it?”

Dan sighs. “She’s very persistent, I’ll give her that. But in her own words, ‘I can’t wait for tomorrow’” he used air quotes, and Phil runs a hand through his hair.

“It’s definitely happening, then” he says, and Dan scuffs his shoe on the ground.

“Looks like it.”

Phil takes his hand and leads him out into the corridor, after checking that his brother was nowhere in sight.

He then breaks into a run, and Dan runs behind him, they’re both giggling like schoolgirls.

“Where are we going?” Dan asks.

“I know a place” Phil replies, and tightens his grip on Dan’s hand.

He knows of all the back alleys in the palace and which staff will be in which places, and which parts of the palace will be uninhibited.

When they arrive, Phil stops suddenly outside of a door and Dan crashes into his back.

“Where are we?” Dan looks around, at the luxurious décor above them and the portraits of Bennia that fill the walls.

“This is the presidential suite they use for when foreign guests visit,” Phil explains as he opens the door, knowing it won’t be locked. “This entire part of the palace is completely empty the rest of the time.”

“No Grayson? No Ariella? We can be carefree and just… together?”

“I told Grayson I’ll be going over last minute stuff with you for the Ball tomorrow and Ariella is stuck with preparations for it, so it’s just us.”

Phil grins and leads Dan into the room, and Dan gasps, the room takes his breath away.

The suite is the most beautiful room he’s ever seen, nicer than any penthouse suite he’s ever seen before, nicer than anything he could fathom.

“Fucking hell” he breathes out, and Phil squeezes his hand.

“I know, right?”

“And there’s nobody here? Nobody will interrupt us?”

Phil shuts the door behind them and locks it swiftly.

“Nobody at all” Phil replies, and Dan pulls him in.

“Then let’s make the most of it.”

Phil raises an eyebrow. “What do you have in mind?”

Dan leans in and kisses him, and Phil tangles his fingers in Dan’s curls. He tugs on them gently, eliciting a moan from the brunet.

“Can we _please_ pick up where we left off earlier?” Dan pleads, his voice a raspy whisper.

“Or do you want to go that bit further?” Phil teases, and Dan’s pupils are dilated.

“Take me over to that bed right now” he demands, and Phil takes pleasure in dragging the process out, by brushing his fingers down Dan’s arms until he reaches his hands, and Dan kisses him, open-mouthed. “ _Please”_ he begs, and Phil wraps his fingers around Dan’s and pulls him over to the four-poster bed.

He pulls Dan down on top of him, and runs his hand through Dan’s hair.

“See, I knew you couldn’t be in this position, you’re just itching to roll us over.” Phil teases.

“Shut up” Dan’s voice is still barely above a whisper, and his eyes are trained on Phil’s.

“Lay me down on this bed and show me just what you mean by wanting to be with me” Dan challenges, and Phil licks his lips.

“Are you ready for that?”

Dan’s gaze flicks from Phil’s eyes down to his lips and back again.

“Like you wouldn’t fucking believe.”

\--

They’re laid tangled in each other with the duvet pooled around their waists. Their clothes are strewn about the room, and they’re both still a little hot and sweaty.

Dan’s head is on Phil’s chest, listening to his steady heartbeat, and Phil is playing with Dan’s hair, he’s become quite obsessed with it as the month has progressed.

“I love you” Dan says all of a sudden, and Phil freezes.

“Dan…”

“You don’t have to say it back,” Dan assures him quickly, and looks up at him. “In fact it’s probably easier if you don’t. But if this is the last time I get a night with you… I thought you should know.”

Phil feels himself tear up, and he tries his best to blink them away. Dan reaches a hand up to caress Phil’s cheek, and smiles up at him.

“It’s okay,” Dan whispers, “It’ll all be okay.”

Phil shakes his head and presses his lips together.

“It won’t be,” he croaks out, “But it’ll have to be. We know what we have to do.”

Dan smiles sadly. There’s nothing he can say, he knows it too.

\--

“Hey, I have a question” Phil tries to lighten the mood.

Dan just blinks at him.

“Why do you always say castle instead of palace?”

“Because palace makes it sound like a fairytale.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

Dan takes Phil’s hand under the duvet and entwines their fingers.

“Because if it was a fairytale I’d be marrying you instead.”

\--

**_18/10_ **

Neither of them know what time it is when they wake up, neither of them care.

“Coronation Ball day” Phil sighs, and Dan snuggles in closer to him.

Phil knows Grayson will be pounding on both of their doors wanting a final briefing of the day, but frankly he’s the last thing on Phil’s mind.

“The other day when she was talking about wedding plans and what she wants putting in place,” Dan begins, his voice still laced with sleep, “All I could imagine was how I wish it would be with you instead.”

“We can’t talk like that anymore” Phil tells him despite his heart telling him otherwise, “It’s not fair on Ariella.”

“I don’t care,” Dan tightens his arm around Phil, “I only care about you.”

His first instinct is to kiss him, because of course it is, but Phil takes a deep breath, balls his into fists and gently unwraps Dan’s arm from around him.

“Please don’t start getting dressed” Dan whines as Phil gets out of bed and starts gathering his clothes from around the suite.

“I have to, and so do you.”

He’s trying his hardest to be borderline standoffish, he knows it’ll only make the night ahead easier.

“Phil…”

“Get up, Dan,” Phil interrupts him, and sends him a pleading glance that hopefully says _understand this is hard for me too, if not more so, please just listen to me._ “We need to start getting you ready for the Coronation Ball.”

For once, Dan doesn’t argue. He mumbles an ‘okay’ and gets out of the bed, and begins to get dressed himself.

\--

Phil leaves the suite ten minutes before Dan does, as to not arise suspicion.

He lets himself into his brother’s room and prepares to be screamed at.

Grayson is sat at his desk doing paperwork, and looks up to greet Phil.

“Where have you been?” he asks calmly.

“I got caught up somewhere, sorry.”

“I trust everything is ready for tonight?”

Phil nods. “I think he’s more than ready.”

Grayson nods appreciatively. “Okay, you can go then. I just wanted to make sure. I’m confident about our chances, so I don’t feel the need to make a huge panic kind of ordeal.”

Deciding not to poke a sleeping bear, Phil backs out of his brother’s room and heads down to his own.

Where, of course, Dan is waiting for him.

“Don’t make this any harder than it already is, Dan, please” Phil begs as he chooses to sit in his desk chair rather than on the bed beside Dan, when the brunet has clearly left him room to.

“I’m strictly here for business” Dan holds up his hands, “To run through what to do and what not to do tonight.”

“Exactly the same as every other Ball, you know the etiquette like the back of your hand by now.”

Dan presses his lips together and looks down at his hands. “Okay fine, I did just want to see you. And I knew you wouldn’t let me in if I said that.”

“With good reason.”

“You don’t mean that.”

Phil stands up and throws his arms in the air. “Of course I don’t fucking mean that!”

Dan stands up too. “I don’t regret last night, and I know you don’t either.”

Phil runs a hand through his hair. “Of course I don’t regret it, it was one of the best nights of my life, this past month has been the best of my life, but I-“

Dan takes his hand and holds it loosely with his own.

“I know.”

Phil has no intention of pulling his hand away, it’s as if he’s drawn to Dan like some kind of cosmic magnetic force, but of course that isn’t news to him.

He’s just aware of the preparations currently happening in the Ballroom, and he’s aware of the Princess of Bennia preparing to choose her husband to rule alongside her. And he’s massively aware that the leading candidate was stood in front of him, leaning in to kiss him.

So Phil gives in, as he always does, because he just can’t get enough of Dan. It’s a shameless addiction, a forbidden addiction, but it just makes every second he spends with him that much sweeter and memorable.

“I’m sorry,” Dan says as he rests his forehead on Phil’s, “I couldn’t resist.”

Phil kisses him softly, quickly, and gently pushes Dan away.

“We can’t.”

Dan nods and turns to head towards the door, but his hand lingers in Phil’s.

“I know. I’ll be in my room until you come and get me then, I guess.”

It’s Phil’s turn to nod, and Dan opens the door. He stays in the doorway for a couple of seconds, and Phil takes those seconds to truly drink in Dan’s gorgeous appearance.

And then Dan’s gone, and he’s alone again. The first thing he does is walk over to the wall and press his hand against the wooden panelling. It’s every gross movie cliché all rolled into a single action, but he’s far past the point of caring.

Eventually he tears himself away and lays sprawled out on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He wonders how things would be right now if circumstances were different, if an alternate universe exists where he and Dan could be together happily, with no dire consequences.

The Bennia palace is Phil’s second home. Since his parents died at a young age, Phil couldn’t bear to be in their family home, so spent most of his time with Ariella in the palace, and King Constantine and Queen Julianna had been hospitable since day one, to Grayson too. They had rooms set out for Phil and Grayson immediately, and never pried into their family business unless they were asked.

Ariella, the one who had been there for Phil through the hardest times of his life. He couldn’t be the one to stand in the way of her happiness, as well as the country’s rulership. He couldn’t do that to the three people who made his life bearable after his parents’ passing, regardless of a fourth reason to live entering his life at both the best and worst time.

He knows he’s making the right decision, it’s just tearing him apart inside.

\--

When the evening rolls around, Grayson knocks on Phil’s door to let him know it’s time to leave. Grayson wants to leave a few minutes earlier than Dan and Phil to get a head start on socialising.

Phil takes one last look in the mirror, though he knows nobody will even give him a second glance, it’s all about Dan. Somewhat satisfied with how he looks, he heads out of his room and knocks on Dan’s door.

“Wow” is his immediate reaction when he sees Dan, he can’t stop himself. “I-I mean…”

“Thanks” Dan smiles, sparing Phil the embarrassment of having to explain himself.

“Are you okay?”

Dan looks at him. “Do you want me to lie or tell the truth?”

Phil bites the inside of his cheek. “Lie.”

“I’m so ready to marry someone I don’t love, I can’t wait for it to be the rest of my life!” he replies with fake enthusiasm.

“You’re going to be a King, you’ll barely have to raise a finger.”

“I’m also not going to be happy.”

“Then that makes two of us.”

Phil then turns and heads down the corridor in pursuit of the Ballroom, and Dan trails behind him.

\--

Dan makes it through his announcement perfectly, as he always does, and soon everyone is gathered around waiting for the King and Queen’s address.

“Thank you everyone for coming,” King Constantine addresses the room, and a deathly silence falls over everyone. “As you are all aware, tonight is a vital night in not only our lives,” he gestures to himself, his wife and his daughter, “But for all of you too, this is the night in which my daughter Ariella will choose her future husband, and your future King.”

The room erupts in cheers. Grayson applauds loudly beside Phil, but Phil can’t find it in himself to celebrate. Dan doesn’t move either.

“Yes in a matter of hours, Bennia will have brought in its new Queen,” Queen Julianna places her hand on her daughter’s shoulder, “And after she and her chosen suitor are married tomorrow, Bennia’s history will turn over a new chapter: the new chapter of Ariella.”

Phil claps this time, he claps for his best friend. Dan still doesn’t move, just takes a sip of his champagne.

“Please enjoy the festivities for the next few hours and then join us for the Royal Coronation!” King Constantine signals for the band to start back up, and the room jumps back into party mode.

As if like clockwork, Ariella splits off from her parents and makes a beeline for Dan and Phil.

“Thank you for joining me on my big night!” she hugs Phil tightly, and she’s grinning when they break apart. “Care to join me on the dancefloor, Daniel?”

Dan hands Phil his empty glass and offers Ariella his arm. “It would be my pleasure.”

“No no, the pleasure is all mine, I assure you!” she insists.

“I am prepared to argue this with you whilst we’re dancing” Dan teases as they head off to dance, and Phil can’t take it.

He dashes out of the Ballroom and out of the palace, and brisk walking turns into sprinting as he heads for the cherry blossom tree.

The stars are out in full force, shining brighter than usual.

Phil takes it as a sign his parents are looking down at him, ready to hear his worries and what’s on his mind.

He doesn’t stop at the tree, he keeps going to the hill, all the time a hand over his mouth to keep in his sobs just in case anyone was hanging around close to the palace and would be able to hear him.

From the hill, he can see the night sky much clearer, and he can no longer hear the music from the palace like he could at the tree.

“I fucked everything up” he says, partly to himself, partly to the stars he’s making himself believe are his parents. “I should have just left him in England, I should never have brought him here.”

He sobs into his hands for a while, comforted only by the gentle breeze as it whips through nearby trees, and the occasional call of birds. He cries out everything he’s feeling, letting out all he’s been bottling up.

“They do make a cute couple, and I know she’ll make him happy in the end and he’ll forget all about me,” he elaborates, “But _fuck_ I want to be selfish.”

He wipes his eyes and looks up at the stars, focusing on one in particular, he imagines he’s speaking to his mother. She’d understand. At least more so than anyone else.

“I want to be selfish. _I_ want to be with him. As much as I love Ariella, she could have _anyone_ she wants. I only want him, but so does she. It’s gotten to the point where I don’t care about Grayson and how the family’s going under, I don’t care about the reason I brought him here for. I want to tell him everything, I want October nineteenth to be _our_ anniversary, the anniversary of when we just let it all go and threw caution to the wind. Maybe even our wedding.”

He wipes his eyes again and picks up a blade of grass, and begins absentmindedly tearing at it.

“I want to be with him because I love him.”

Loving Dan comes to him as easily as breathing, smiling and crying.

He feels himself tearing up again and he brings his hands up to his eyes to try and push them back in before they come out, which obviously fails. A breeze whips around him, as if nature is trying to console him.

“So why don’t you?”

The small voice speaks from behind him, and sounds just as choked up as Phil does himself.

Phil shakes his head, and doesn’t bother looking.

“How much of that did you hear?”

“Enough.”

Phil listens as the soft thuds of footsteps get nearer and nearer, and another when Dan sits down beside him.

He feels Dan wrap his arms around him.

“Why are you here” It’s spoken as more of a statement than a question, and Phil still hasn’t looked up. He’s still crying silently into his hands, just less than he was.

“You weren’t there so I didn’t want to be either.”

This makes Phil sob, and Dan pulls him into his chest, where Phil then proceeds to cry into Dan’s shirt. Dan is holding him so tight Phil wonders if he ever plans on letting go – he hopes he doesn’t. Phil is full-on sobbing into Dan’s chest, and Dan slowly rocks them both from side to side whilst resting his head on Phil’s and doing his best to calm him down.

“I’m not going anywhere” he assures Phil, and kisses the top of his head. “Just let it all out. I’m staying right here.”

Phil wants to say something, but he physically can’t. All he can produce are tears, and many of them.

“It’s okay,” Dan says, “I’ve got you, I’ve got you.”

Phil hugs Dan tighter, and hopes his appreciation comes through in the simple gesture.

Dan continues to soothe him as Phil’s sobs gradually subside, and are reduced to raspy, heavy breaths.

None of them speak for a while, just stay holding each other.

Somewhere back in the palace the Ball is still going on, and Phil has no doubt that Ariella is searching for Dan. The Coronation itself can’t be too far away now, he realises.

“You need to get back” Phil says, his voice making it sound like he smokes fifty cigarettes a day.

Dan shakes his head. “No way in hell, not when you’re like this.”

Phil doesn’t have the heart to argue. Especially not when he wouldn’t mean it. He knows Dan’s stubbornness, and Dan knows Phil’s, they balance each other out.

“Hey, what exactly would happen if Ariella didn’t pick me, or if I were to say no?” Dan asks.

“My brother and I would be forced to declare bankruptcy and we’d lose our nobility title, either way. If you were to decline when Ariella asked you, you’d be banished and never allowed to return to Bennia. As would my brother and I. It would be a first in Bennia’s history.”

“Okay. So you could come back with me to Manchester?”

“Nice little dream you’ve got going on there.”

“No, honestly, we could do it. I have a bit of money saved up and we could put a deposit on a little flat down, you could do your degree whilst I get another job, we would work it out.”

Phil pulls away, and looks into Dan’s eyes, they’re full of hope.

“There are too many reasons why that wouldn’t work.”

“Name some.”

Phil holds up his hand, ready to put down a finger for every reason he’s about to list.

“Grayson, where does he fit into this plan? Ariella would hate me, and I’d rather die than have her hate me. I would no longer be welcome in my own country. My family name would be a laughing stock. You’d eventually find someone better than me and I’d be alone in a country I don’t know. Need I go on?”

Dan holds up one of his own hands, preparing to do the same thing.

“We would be free to do whatever we wanted. You would finally be free of this life of absolute fucking misery. You could learn everything there is to learn about yourself by living in the real world rather than this fantasy shitshow. We could be together. We could spend the rest of our lives together.”

“You really do just live in your own bubble, don’t you?”

Dan grabs Phil’s hands. “When was the last time you did something for you, not for anyone else?”

Phil toys the question around in his head, though there’s obviously only one answer. “When I kissed you.”

Dan’s cheeks blush slightly, but it doesn’t seem to faze him. “And how did it feel?”

Phil bites his lip. He knows what Dan’s getting at, and he hates that a large part of himself is inclined to agree. “It felt amazing, liberating almost.”

“So why not do it more often?”

Phil brings him in for a kiss. “I love you, dork.”

\--

The band stops playing, and Dan pushes a piece of paper into Phil’s hand before he’s ushered to the front of the thrones along with the rest of the suitors.

Phil moves to the side of the Ballroom so he can see everything that happens. Grayson is in the crowd somewhere, Phil assumes with a picture-perfect view of the proceedings.

Ariella spots Phil from her throne and grins at him, and he finds the strength to smile back at her.

Dan spots him too, and though he can’t give away anything, he still nods, and Phil nods back. Though Phil wants to do so much more.

“Residents of Bennia, honoured guests,” King Constantine greets everyone once again, “Welcome to the Coronation of my beautiful daughter Ariella, and the beginning of a new chapter of this beautiful country.”

Everyone cheers and hollers, and King Constantine laughs along with them. Queen Julianna and Ariella stand up and walk over to join him.

Both of Ariella’s parents place a hand on her shoulder.

“Each noble House has put forward a suitor for the Princess” Queen Julianna explains, and gestures to the line of suitors gathered in front of them.

At this point Dan casts a glance to Phil, causing Ariella to do the same.

Phil quickly darts his gaze to the floor, and thankfully when he looks back, Dan is no longer looking at him.

“And tomorrow they shall be wed.” King Constantine concludes, and the crowd erupts into cheers once again.

Ariella smiles warmly at everyone, though there’s a special smile reserved for Dan, Phil can see that look develop in her eyes and her cheeks are dusted with a faint blush whenever they make eye contact. He knows it well.

His skin is still tingling from when Dan last touched him and his lips are plump, marks of their kisses, and his shirt collar is just high enough that it cleverly covers the trail of purple marks from the night before, still darkening in colour. He remembers everything, every word spoken, every breath taken, and he’ll never forget.

The paper is still gripped in his hand, his focus is still on the events unfolding in front of him, though it feels as if the paper is burning, demanding to be read. His eyes still feel raw and he’s positive he looks a mess.

But all eyes are on the brunet at the front of the room.

“Without further ado,” King Constantine ducks down to kiss his daughter on the cheek, “Princess of Bennia, please choose your King.”

 

_We are nothing if not the choices we make and the chances we take._

_We cannot be tied down by our own worries if we remind ourselves we’re all in control of our own life stories._

 

It’s the piece of paper he gave to Dan when they first met, the thing that convinced Dan to take the plunge and come with him to Bennia in the first place. He’s clearly kept it ever since.

He reads over his own writing, but quickly notices that Dan has written beneath it.

 

**_To take a leap of faith is to leap from what is safe,_ **

**_Put faith in the world to have your bountiful future unfurled._ **

**_Words run dry and text fades,_ **

**_All we really have is to live day by day._ **

**_To fall in love is life’s biggest mystery,_ **

**_But when you meet the right person, speak up and make history._ **

**Author's Note:**

> I've wanted to write a royalty au for the LONGEST time, as I adore reading them and there are so few in the phandom! I didn't want to do the cliche storyline, so I put a little twist on it, and i hope you enjoyed it :)
> 
> I wrote this entire fic in just over twenty four hours, I got so addicted to writing it and so invested in it I just couldn't stop, and it feels so good to be back posting oneshots again!!
> 
> THANK YOU SO MUCH for reading, please leave a kudos and comment letting me know what you thought, and share the fic around with anyone who you think might like it :)
> 
> As for the ending... well you can make your own guesses as to what happened. Did Ariella choose Dan, did Dan accept, did Phil interrupt before/after reading the note, did everything fall into chaos, did everything go smoothly... let me know your theories! 
> 
> Thank you so much again for reading, your support means the world and is the reason I keep writing these little (and no so little) stories for you!
> 
> also you can find me on twitter @bloggerhowell, if you'd like to! 
> 
> xxx


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